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ADAM  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


^X   BY 

JOHN   ^I.    LOWRIE,    D.  D. 

AUTHOR    OF    ''ESTHER    AND    HER    TIMES. 

PASTOR   OF    THE    TIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH, 
PORT    WAYNE,    INDIANA. 


"  No  age 
Can  outgrow  truth,  or  can  afford  to  part 
With  the  tried  wisdom  of  the  past,  with  words 
That  centuries  hare  sifted,  and  on  which 

Ages  have  set  their  seal." 

BoNAB. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No,  821  Chestnut  Street. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1861,  by 

JAMES  DUNLAP,  Treas. 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsylvania. 

BTEfiEOTYPED   BY  AYILLIAM   W.   HARDING,   PHILADELPHIA. 


PREFACE, 


These  cliai>ters  do  not  pretend  to  discuss  their  grave 
topics  with  the  critical  learning  that  might  befit  the  the- 
ological chair.  It  is  indeed  important  that  all  Scriptural 
doctrines  should  be  truthfully  and  accurately  stated ;  but 
it  is  an  excellency  of  the  Bible  that  it  reserves  no  doc- 
trines for  a  special  class  of  disciples.  It  is  a  Revelation, 
and  it  invites  every  man  to  become  a  learner.  We  recog- 
nize no  such  difference  between  the  pupils  in  a  theological 
school,  and  the  readers  of  a  religious  book,  or  the  hearers 
in  a  Christian  sanctuary,  as  to  allow  that  the  first  are  to 
be  taught  doctrines  which  they  are  not  in  turn  to  trans- 
mit to  their  hearers.  The  book  is  for  all ;  the  same  sub- 
stantial teachings  each  believer  needs,  that  he  may  be- 
come a  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus ;  the  same  truths  give 
vigour  to  piety  in  any  sphere  of  duty.  And  if  we  may 
grant  that  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  set  for  the  defence 
and  the  interpretation  of  the  truth,  should  have  a  critical 
acquaintance  with  the  sacred  text,  and  a  wider  range  of 
information  touching  the  views  of  opposers  and  errorists; 
even  this  difference,  which  regards  only  the  manner  and 


4  PREFACE. 

extent  of  the  teachings  they  receive  and  not  the  doctrines 
themselves,  is  a  difference  less  plainly  marked  in  our  own 
times  than  formerly.  For  now  every  man  is  a  reader ; 
the  press  vies  with  the  pulpit  in  discussing  sacred  themes ; 
and  hundreds  of  men,  all  over  the  land,  are  ready  to  re- 
ceive the  judicious  discussion  of  any  Scriptural  teach- 
ings. 

The  doctrines  here  treated  of  belong  to  every  age  of 
the  Church,  and  are  traced  back  to  the  earliest  period  of 
revealed  religion  ;  and  no  intelligent  man  can  judge  them 
unsuitable  for  the  instruction  of  a  Christian  people.  Yet 
it  is  perhaps  true  that  they  are  less  discussed  among  us, 
than  in  the  days  of  our  fathers.  But  may  it  not  be  that 
the  stirring  activity  of  our  times  needs  a  larger  admix- 
ture of  their  thoughtful  training  in  those  sterling  doc- 
trines, that  have  never  been  neglected  without  enervating 
the  piety  of  the  Church,  and  never  been  received  without 
invigorating  it  ? 

These  pages  contain  the  substance  of  a  course  of  lec- 
tures given  to  the  congregation  of  which  the  author  is 
pastor.  They  are  not  printed  as  originally  spoken.  Many 
practical  thoughts  and  exhortations  have  been  omitted, 
and  this  partly  because  the  manuscript  was  not  used  in 
the  pulpit.  The  reasons  which  induced  their  original 
preparation  may  justify  their  wider  circulation  by  means 
of  the  press.  They  are  such  as  these  :  All  Scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable.  The  peo- 
ple of  God  have  a  right  to  all  the  teachings  of  his  word ; 
the  entire  scheme  of  salvation  cannot  be  presented,  nor 
the  symmetry  of  any  parts  be  preserved,  if  these  things 


PREFACE.  5 

arc  omitted.  The  Scriptural  method  of  teaching  doctrine 
is  not  in  the  abstract  form,  but  in  connection  with  the 
events  of  life  and  history  which  call  forth  the  doctrine, 
and  illustrate  it,  and  give  it  interest.  An  intelligent  peo- 
ple cannot  be  formed  under  any  ministry  that  does  not 
take  pains  to  give  careful  instruction.  The  more  patient 
thought  is  demanded  of  any  people,  the  more  fully  will 
they  rise  to  it,  provided  their  interest  can  be  awakened  ; 
and  finally,  the  press  is  the  most  fitting  means  of  teach- 
ing truths  which  require  more  mature  thought  than  can 
be  given  at  a  single  hearing. 

The  theology  of  the  book  accords,  it  is  believed,  with 
that  of  the  old  Calvinistic  divines.  No  efibrt  is  made 
at  an  unattainable  originality  upon  themes  sixty  centuries 
old.  There  will  be  found,  indeed,  no  servile  copying  of 
any  human  master ;  but  our  respect  is  profound  for  the 
Scriptural  writers.  Of  them  we  cannot  say  more,  and 
desire  not  to  say  less,  than  that  the  longer  we  study  them 
the  deeper  is  our  conviction  that  "  holy  men  of  old 
spake,"  not  by  the  promptings  of  human  wisdom,  but 
"  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

If  things  are  found  here  that  others  have  said  before, 
let  the  words  of  an  ancient  critic  be  a  sufficient  defence. 
They  who  are  competent  to  make  the  charge  will  respect 
the  authority.  "  Quum  pravum  quoddam  (ut  arbitror) 
studium  circa  scriptores  artium  exstiterit,  nihil  eisdem 
verbis,  quae  prior  aliquis  occupasset,  finiendi ;  quae  am- 
bitio  procul  aberit  a  me."     Quint,  Inst.  Orat.     Lib.  11. 

C.  XV.  I  37. 

1* 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    RELATION    OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT   TO    THE    NE-W. 

PAOB 

Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  ;  he  fulfils  its  type,  and  pre- 
dictions ;  and  the  moral  law.  Law  and  gospel  harmonize.  0. 
T.  Scriptures  not  superseded  :  consistent  with  the  New.  Christ 
gave  his  sanction  to  the  ancient  Scriptures :  indeed  they  are 
more  instructive  now  than  ever — Religious  experience  of 
ancient  believers  profitable 13 

CHAPTER    II. 

OLD    TESTAMENT    BIOGRAPHIES. 

Past  ages  live  in  history  and  biography.  We  need  faithful  de- 
lineations. Scriptural  descriptions  truthful.  We  get  just  ideas 
of  the  persons — Hard  to  decide  what  allowance  to  make. 
These  are  our  examples 22 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE    FIRST    MAN. 

Life  of  the  first  man  interesting.  His  influence  ever  felt.  "  The 
Son  of  God."  A  perfect  man.  **  Very  good."  His  knowledge, 
uprightness,  immortality,  conscience.  Thoughts  upon  con- 
science      28 

CHAPTER    IV. 

ADAM   IN    PARADISE. 

Eden.  A  beautiful  spot — Like  heaven.  Liable  to  fall.  A  tiller 
of  the  ground — Employment  a  blessing — Not  lawless,  but  in 
subjection — Self-denial  an  essential  element  of  earthly  piety. 
Our  happiness 34 

(T) 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE    GARDEN    AND    ITS    TREES. 

PAGE 

Many  opinions  respecting  Eden.  Its  site — Discrepant  views — 
Trees  of  beauty  and  food.  Vegetable  food — Two  trees — The 
tree  of  knowledge — The  tree  of  life 40 

CHAPTER    VI. 

MARRIAGE    AS    GIVEN   IN    EDEN. 

First  social  institution.  Ordained  of  God.  Two  parties — Eve  a 
helpmeet.  Marriage  honourable — Unwise  restrictions — Per- 
manent— Ruled  by  love — Divorce — Value  shown  by  tendency 
to  corruption — Evils  of  our  time.  An  aged  couple.  A  happy 
land  where  the  Scriptural  ordinance  is  maintained 45 

CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  PERPETUITY  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

Sabbath  in  Eden — Not  a  Jewish  institution — For  man  innocent 
and  more  needed  now.  Observed  before  Moses  ;  predicted 
after  Christ  ;  for  man.  The  change  of  day  argues  perpetuity. 
Only  perpetual  things  retained  under  the  gospel — Paul's  mean- 
ing      67 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

NATURE,    DESIGN,    AND    DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

Sacred  obligations  of  the  day — Men  want  a  Sunday — A  dese- 
crated Sabbath  undesirable — Proper  use — The  original — More 
needed  since  the  fall — Especially  in  our  age — Steam  and  labour 
— The  poor — U.  S. — Like  marriage,  a  family  institution — This 
secures  all  the  rest — Baxter — Holy  time — Important  question 
— France — A  type  of  heaven.     Paradise  lost  and  regained 76 

CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    EVIL. 

The  Labyrinth — How  sin?  Theories.  ''God  the  Author  of 
Sin."  "  A  necessary  evil."  Incredible  and  mischievous — The 
guiding  thread — We  must  acknowledge  facts — God  sovereign 
aiid  man  free — Permitted  :  in  sovereignty  and  wisdom 86 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE    GREAT    TEMPTER. 

PA  OK 

The  serpent — Satan — Scriptural  teachings  of  him 94 

CHAPTER    XI. 
man's  first  six. 
Some  think  the  first  sin  insignificant.     Serious  for  many  reasons 
— Threatening  and  promise — Representative — Adam  knew  it. 
Personal  duty.     This  oflFence  serious — The  chief  of  sinners 98 

CHAPTER    XII. 

the    TEMPTATION. 

Brief  sketches — Eve — Tempter's  manner — sight  of  the  tree — dis- 
trust— gradual — Adam  tempted — Good  and  evil — Unwilling 
to  meet  God — Falsehood;  self-justification;  impenitence 106 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE    GOSPEL    ANNOUNCED. 

The  tempter  first  judged — The  serpent — Satan — The  conflict — 
Germ  of  the  gospel — The  Seed  is  Christ — Traditions.  Christ's 
people — A  long  struggle  and  its  results Ill 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    SENTENCE    UPON    EVE. 

Not  on  Eve  alone — Woman  more  religious  than  man.  Spiritual 
interests — A  blessing  to  the  race — mothers — Crowning  virtue..  124 

CHAPTER    XV. 

LABOCR. 

Ground  cursed;  yet  labour  needful — Weeds,  &c.,  employment, 
and  toil — Scriptural  generalization — Agriculture  represents  all 
labour.     Toil — Not  purely  a  curse — Honourable  industry 130 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

DEATH. 

Is  man  mortal  by  constitution  ?  Various  pains  and  ills:  wars  : 
violence:  Ac 140 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  CURSE  UPON  THE  RACE. 

PAGE 

Evils  upon  all  men.  Universal  sinfulness,  and  connected  with 
Adam — Scripture  statements — Dr.  Dwight's  arguments — Sinful 
by  nature  as  truly  as  rational — Entire  depravity.  Meaning  of 
total  depravity — Facts — Philosophy — We  must  classify  facts — 
Providential    as    well    as      Biblical — Explanations   not   fully 

satisfactory.     The  Scriptural  solution  superior 148 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

PRELIMINARY    STATEMENTS. 

True  teachings,  and  man's  conceptions  of  them — Progress  of 
opinion  and  true  science — Astronomy — N.  T.  truths  clearer — 
Practical  benefit  and  theoretical  ignorance — Use  of  laws  not 
understood.  The  early  and  the  late  where  true,  consistent — 
Facts  concerning  Adam,  plain  for  ages — Adam  Representative.  159 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

DEFINITION    OF    TERMS. 

Covenant  of  works — Federal  Head — Imputation — Guilt, 1G5 

CHAPTER    XX. 

WHENCE    THE    AUTHORITY    OF    A    REPRESENTATIVE? 

Principles  of  representation  familiar — Adam  not  merely  a  father 
— Representation  just,  wise,  and  needful — Ground  of  Adam's 
authority — Inquiry  respecting  choice.  Government  divine  as 
an  ordinance.  How  far  in  human  hands?  A  legal  representa- 
tion of  those  that  voted  against  and  not  at  all — Divine  ap- 
pointment, where  it  can  be  ascertained,  the  best  possible  basis 
of  authority.     The /«c<  in  Adam's  case  proves  the  rt^A< 170 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE    COVENA'NT   MADE    WITH    ADAM — REASONABLE    ARGUMENTS. 

"Worthy  of  God's  wisdom — Man  under  law — A  covenant  changes 
— Advantages — Had  Adam  stood,  the  gratitude  of  the  race — 
Difficulties  in  any  view — "Voluntary  nature  of  man."  "Evil 
examples."  "  Divine  constitution."  No  progress  made  by  such 
solutions.     A  covenant  less  difficulties  and  superior  advantages.  177 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE    COVENANT    MADE  WITH    ADAM — SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS. 

Genesis — Parties,  terms,  penalties  of  covenant — Circumstances  all 
consistent  with  this  view.     God's   usual   methods — Covenant 


CONTEXTS.  11 

PAOB 

often  spoken  of — Noah,  Abraham,  David,  Ac.  Scriptural 
references.  Hosea,  Corinthians,  Romans  V.- — Infants — 
Adam's  one  oflfence — Practical  influence 187 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

ADAM,    THE    FIRST   AND    THE    SECOND. 

Early  knowledge  of  redemption — Adam  knew  Christ  truly — 
Adam  and  Christ  representative — Paul's  illustration — Not  en- 
tirely alike — Both  public  persons.     Proof. 196 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

THE    AFFILIATED     DOCTRINES. 

Principles  implied — Representation — Imputation — Sin  and  right- 
eousness— Analogies  and  differences — Federal  Headship — Ob- 
jections— Light  upon  each  other 203 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE    SECOND    ADAM    GREATER. 

Parallel  not  complete.  The  Second  greater — Condemnation  by 
law.  Salvation  by  grace — Recovery  more  diflScult — One  and 
many — More  than  restored — Perplexities — Grounds  of  faith — 
Precious  invitations.     Happy  they  who  make  this  covenant...  208 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Adam's  first  born  sons. 
First  parents  repentant.     Skins  of  beasts — Paradise  left— First 
born — Parental    love  and  duty — Disappointment — Differences 
of  character,  occupation,  worship 218 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE    WORSHIP    OF    CAIN. 

Early  worship — Mistal^e  of  reason — Man  a  sinner — Bloody  sacri- 
fices—  Prophecy — Faith  —  Revelation  and  Reason.  First 
errorist — Works  of  righteousness.     Woe  to  the  way  of  Cain...  252 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE    REJECTION    OF    CAIN. 

Results.  Fire  from  heaven — Rage  and  impenitence — Long- 
suffering  mercy — Expostulation.  Increasing  sin.  Faith — 
Murmuring  unprofitable — Convictions  lead  to  God  or  harden 231 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE    SACRIFICE    OF   ABEL. 

FAOS 

Sacrifice  —  The  animals  offered:  significancy — Ceremonies — 
Honourable  confessions.  Sympathy  with  erring  —  Abel's 
offering — Blood  of  sprinkling 237 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE    DEATH    OF    ABEL. 

Gradual  separation  of  the  brothers.  Men  of  mature  life.  A 
hundred  years  of  sin — Dreadful  deed — Parental  grief — First 
human  death — Honour  of  Abel — Joy  in  heaven 244 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE    CRIMINAL   EXPOSED. 

Concealment — Conscience — God  speaks.  Brother's  keeper — 
Falsehood  vain — Webster's  speech.  Circumstantial  evidence 
— Necessary  :  Satisfactory 252 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

Cain's  apprehensions.  Arguing  against  capital  punishments — 
Mosaic  laws — Noah  and  all  nations — Public  and  private  deeds — 
We  need  every  safeguard — The  Divine  Law — Life  insecure 260 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE    PUNISHMENT    OF    CAIN. 

Why  death  remitted  to  Cain?  Disproof  of  justice — Sovereign 
privilege — Who  would  execute  the  penalty?  Why  fear? 
Conscience 269 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

CALLING    UPON    THE    LORD. 

Time  softens  grief — Seth — Eight  generations — Calling  upon  the 
Lord.  Profanity.  Prayer — Public  worship — Revivals  of  re- 
ligion—  Interest  and  anxiety.  Church  and  world  divided. 
Adam's  deep  concern 276 

CHAPTER    XXXV. 

LONG    LIFE. 

Longevity — Adam's  adult  life — Traditions  to  Jacob — Life  short- 
ened. Gen.  vi.-xi.  Moral  reasons — Wcmld  we  better  prepare 
— One  sinner  destroyeth  much — Time  enough.  No  account 
of  Adam's  death.     Time  and  eternity 284 


ADAM  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TO  THE  NEW. 

This  word  divine,  which  on  the  desert  sands, 
On  Judah's  sacred  hills,  on  Babel's  plains, 

Was  penned  by  Moses',  David's,  Daniel's  hands; 
Which  precious  gospel,  righteous  law  contains, 
And  God's  great  niysterj''  to  man  explains  ; 

Prophetic,  promising  the  woman's  seed. 
Historic,  telling  of  his  wondrous  birth, 

His  wondrous  words,  his  death  for  man's  great  need, 
Doth  by  God's  Spirit  teach  the  sons  of  earth, 

And  chiefly  doth  reveal  a  Saviour's  work  and  worth. 

The  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "I  am  not 
come  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it,"  are  true, 
in  a  remarkable  degree,  of  the  entire  Old  Testament 
writings.  He  indeed  fulfils  the  shadowy  teachings 
of  the  ceremonial  laAv.  And  he  also  answers  many 
of  the  remarkable  predictions  made  by  the  ancient 
prophets.  Still  further,  in  every  just  sense  of  the 
term,  he  sustains  the  moral  law ;  which,  in  the 
proper  use  of  language,  is  the  law  of  God.  Under  that 
2  13 


14  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

law  he  was  voluntarily  made,  (Gal.  iv.  4,)  when  he 
assumed  our  nature  as  the  Mediator  between  God 
and  man.  His  entire  life  was  in  obedience  to  that 
law ;  his  teachings  supported  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples, the  precepts  and  the  penalties  of  that  law  ; 
his  expiatory  death  was  under  the  sentence  of  that 
law ;  and,  different  as  his  gospel  is  from  the  law  in 
nature  and  influence,  yet  no  man  ever  partakes  of 
the  blessings  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  who  does  not 
approve  of  the  law  of  God  as  "  holy,  and  wise,  and 
good;"  Rom.  vii.  12;  and  who  is  not  cheerfully 
subject  to  the  guidance  of  the  law.  Great  as  are 
the  differences  between  law  and  grace,  they  har- 
monize in  glorifying  the  same  God,  and  in  demand- 
ing a  like  holiness  ;  and  a  true  believer  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ  is  a  lover,  invariably,  of  the  law  of  God. 
A  teacher  who  makes  the  law  of  perpetual  obliga- 
tion;  who  vindicates  its  true  teachings  from  the 
glosses  of  error ;  who  hono-urs  it  in  every  aspect, 
and  that  in  the  most  remarkable  and  illustrious 
manner ;  and  who  is  succeeded  by  a  race  of  disci- 
ples whose  purity  of  doctrine  and  purity  of  life 
combine  to  promote  his  cause,  may  justly  claim  to 
support  the  law  of  God. 

But  if  this  is  the  direct  force  of  our  Lord's  words, 
it  is  true  also  that  they  mean  more.  The  entire 
Scriptures,  as  already  in  the  hands  of  men,  are 
sustained  by  him,  as  he  fulfils  the  law.  These  Old 
Testament  writings  are  neither  so  clear  nor  so  full 
in   their  teachings   of   religious  truth,  as   are  the 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  15 

writings  of  the  New  Testament.  When  the  Son  of 
God  is  manifest  in  the  flesh,  we  may  look  for  reve- 
lations in  advance  of  any  thing  before  granted  to 
prophets  that  were  merely  human.  Perhaps  some 
minds  might  anticipate  that  the  New  would  super- 
sede the  Old :  that  the  servants  would  be  allowed 
to  step  entirely  aside  since  their  Lord  had  come. 
But  this  would  be  to  overlook  the  great  fact  that 
these  servants  owed  their  wisdom  and  authority  to 
a  Divine  commission.  With  this  in  view,  we  may 
rather  judge  that  the  teachings  of  Christ  should  be 
in  full  harmony  with  all  that  had  gone  before.  Just 
as  it  is  with  all  the  truths  we  learn  in  our  childhood, 
that  they  remain  true,  even  when  the  clearer  con- 
ceptions of  riper  years  enable  us  to  know  the  same 
things  better ;  just  as  the  earlier  astronomers  learned 
much  of  the  positions  and  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  the  telescope  enables  us  in  modern  times 
to  learn  more  of  the  same  things ;  just  as,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  errors  and  misconceptions  in  both 
these  cases,  all  the  earlier  truths  are  in  full  harmony 
with  the  later  truths :  so,  in  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  the  revelations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  are  all  true,  and  therefore  all  consistent 
with  each  other.  It  may  be  then  that  the  early 
church  did  not  understand  as  we  do  ;  it  may  be  that 
the  late  prophets  are  superior,  and  especially  so  is 
the  Lord  of  all  the  prophets.  But  it  would  be  very 
strange  to  find  any  contradiction  between  them,  or 
any  necessity  for  repealing  the  earlier   teachings ; 


16  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

since  all  these  teachings  are  of  Divine  authority, 
and  the  earlier  servants  were  sent  by  the  same  Lord. 
That  they  were  ignorant  of  things  we  now  know  : 
that  they  misconceived  the  meaning,  or  could  not 
understand  the  meaning  of  some  things  they  had: 
that  they  predicted  the  future  less  for  themselves 
than  for  us,  (1  Peter  i.  12,)  may  all  be  true,  with- 
out implying  that  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  designed  to  set  aside  the  teachings  of  the 
Old. 

And  it  is  really  found  that,  taking  the  Old  Tes- 
tament as  a  whole,  Jesus  Christ  came  not  to  destroy 
but  to  confirm  and  establish  it.  The  old  economy 
gives  place  to  the  new  :  as  we  are  taught  in  several 
passages  of  Paul,  Heb.  viii..  Gal.  iii.  But  by  this 
is  meant — not  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament teach  us  less  than  before,  or  are  less  profi- 
table for  rebuke  and  instruction — only,  that  the 
Jewish  people  no  longer  stand  in  the  peculiar  posi- 
tion assigned  to  them  by  the  regulations  given  at 
Sinai,  and  in  the  wilderness.  The  arrangements 
made  with  them  w^ere  temporary,  till  the  seed 
should  come  to  whom  the  promise  had  been  made 
more  than  four  centuries  earlier.  Gal.  iii.  17,  19. 
Yet  when  we  make  decided  and  important  advan- 
tages belong  to  the  Christian  dispensation  as  com- 
pared with  the  Patriarchal  and  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sations, they  yet  all  are  diff*erent  ages  of  the  same 
church :  the  same  substantial  principles,  both  of 
justice   and  grace,  belong  to   them   all :    and  the 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  17 

changes  are  changes  of  form  and  development.  Ac- 
cordingly we  look  in  vain  among  the  entire  teach- 
ings of  Christ  to  find  one  word  uttered  against  the 
Old.  Testament  Scriptures.  AVhen  Christ  came — 
the  greatest  and  plainest  of  teachers — he  found 
these  writings  in  the  possession  of  the  Jews  ;  and  it 
is  a  great  thing  for  all  succeeding  times  to  know 
that  he  gave  to  them  the  full  sanction  of  his  ap- 
proval. This  approval  is  both  negative  and  posi- 
tive ;  in  wdiat  he  did  not  sa}^,  and  in  what  he  did 
say.  He  found  among  the  Jews  many  corruptions ; 
and  he  did  not  fail  to  rebuke  them  plainly  and 
boldly.  They  had  perverted  many  precepts,  and 
he  corrected  their  errors.  They  had  added  things, 
and  he  rejected  the  additions.  But  they  held  these 
books  in  the  most  profound  reverence ;  they  es- 
teemed them  as  of  Divine  inspiration ;  they  reck- 
oned the  very  points  and  letters  to  make  each  copy 
as  correct  as  possible ;  and  he  never,  on  the  one 
hand,  charged  them  with  having  failed  in  their  duty 
towards  the  sacred  text  as  to  its  preservation  ;  nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  intimated  that  there  was  any 
thing  undue  or  superstitious  in  the  veneration  they 
paid  to  these  ancient  Scriptures.  If  we  had  nothing 
else,  the  silence  of  Jesus  Christ  would  be  enough  to 
maintain  among  his  disciples  the  same  veneration 
for  the  Old  Testament  which  the  Jews  of  his  day 
showed. 

But  his  approbation  was  positive  also.     As  he 
never  intimates   that  these  writings  were  held  in 


18  ADAM    AXD    HIS    TIMES. 

undue  estimation,  or  were  about  to  lose  tlie  estima- 
tion in  which  they  had  been  so  long  held,  so  he  him- 
self puts  upon  them  the  same  esteem.  He  read 
these  Scriptures  publicly  in  the  hearing  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  he  appealed  to  them  as  establishing  his  own 
claims  ;  he  enjoined  upon  his  hearers  to  read  them, 
without  a  qualifying  word  to  suggest  their  waning 
influence ;  he  constantly  assumes  the  entire  correct- 
ness of  all  their  teachings ;  he  declares  that  the 
Scriptures  cannot  be  broken ;  and,  in  fact,  he  builds 
upon  the  narratives,  and  laws,  and  doctrines  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  entire  structure  of  the  New 
Testament  Church.  It  is  a  statement  not  too 
strong  by  a  single  word  to  affirm,  that  the  Old 
Testament  writings,  as  they  were  held  in  the  hands 
of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ,  have  the 
entire  sanction  of  his  approbation  and  authority. 

And,  indeed,  if  the  statement  fails,  it  rather  does 
so  in  understating  the  truth.  Not  only  may  we 
challenge  any  man  to  point  out  in  the  words  of 
Christ  Jesus,  a  single  declaration  that  weakens  the 
authority  of  these  Scriptures;  not  only  may  we  af- 
firm that  the  New  Testament  would  be  an  incom- 
plete and  fragmentary  volume  in  the  absence  of  the 
Old ;  but  we  may  very  plainly  see  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  a  more  instructive  volume  to  us  than  even 
it  was  to  the  former  ages.  We  may  understand 
every  important  thing  better  than  they  did,  and 
this  almost  in  the  same  sense  that  an  advanced 
scholar  understands   the  rudiments  of  any  science 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  19 

better  than  one  who  is  learning  the  same  things  for 
the  first  time.  Many  truths  were  clearly  taught  them, 
as  even  Jesus  Christ  gives  us  no  other  moral  law 
than  that  which  found  so  clear  an  exhibition  in  the 
two  stone  tables  of  Sinai.  The  Decalogue,  there- 
fore, stands,  and  will  stand,  while  time  lasts,  the 
unchanging  expression  of  human  duty.  Many  things 
were  taught  them  by  types  and  shadows.  But  we 
can  look  on  these — for  example,  the  sacrifice  offered 
by  Abel,  the  Brazen  Serpent,  or  the  High  Priest's 
Entrance  behind  the  Veil  of  the  Tabernacle — and 
learn  quite  as  much  of  their  spiritual  import  as  did 
they  whose  eyes  actually  looked  upon  these  things. 
Many  wonderful  sights  were  granted  to  them ;  but 
the  bush  of  the  desert  burning  yet  unconsumed ; 
the  fire  from  Jehovah's  altar  touching  the  prophet's 
lips ;  the  exposure  of  three  young  men  to  a  fiery  fur- 
nace without  injury,  are  lessons  as  useful  in  our 
times,  as  in  the  days  of  Moses,  or  Isaiah,  or  Daniel. 
They  had  many  prophetic  declarations  which  are 
clearer  to  us,  because  fulfilled.  It  is  always  the 
case  in  human  aff'airs,  that  the  lessons  of  history  are 
better  understood  after  they  are  past  than  while 
they  are  passing.  It  is  true,  that  the  things  now 
occurring  upon  the  earth  will  be  better  under- 
stood by  our  successors  than  we  can  understand 
them.  Far  more  fully  is  it  true,  that  we  can  under- 
stand the  teachings  of  Old  Testament  times  and  Old 
Testament  prophets  better  than  they  did,  who  lived, 
before  time  and  succeedin;^  revelations  had  cleared 


20  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

up  its  obscurities.  But  in  this  conclusion  we  may 
rest,  that  the  Kew  Testament  does  not  supersede 
the  Old;  it  fills  it  with  new  meaning;  it  makes  it  a 
more  interesting  book  than  ever  before ;  and  we 
will  most  honour  Christ,  when  we  most  deeply  study 
and  most  fully  understand  Moses  and  the  prophets. 
Among  all  the  things  wTitten  in  old  times  "  for 
our  learning,  that  we  through  patience  and  comfort 
of  the  Scriptures  might  have  hope,"  Rom.  xv.  4 ; 
our  attention  seems  especially  called  to  the  lessons 
of  religious  experience  which  these  WTitings  contain. 
In  a  remarkable  degree  the  Scriptures  abound  in 
brief  biographical  sketches  ;  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  repeatedly  refer  to  these  and  draw  les- 
sons from  them,  as  if  they  would  bind  both  parts 
of  the  Sacred  Book  together  in  one  permanent  vol- 
ume ;  and  the  interest  which  men  naturally  take  in 
such  writings,  has  confirmed  our  faith  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  inspired  writers.  From  no  kind  of  teaching 
do  men  usually  learn  more  than  from  narratives,  or 
biography,  embodying  important  principles.  Nor 
need  we  suppose  that  an  example  must  be  thoroughly 
good  in  order  to  be  profitable.  On  the  contrary, 
the  mistakes  of  good  men,  the  sins  of  men  from 
whom  we  had  expected  better  things,  and  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  vilest  men  may  be  instructive  as 
matters  of  record,  if  only  we  are  clearly  able  to  re- 
cognize the  right  and  wrong  as  such.  All  past  his- 
tory owes  its  importance  to  the  truth,  that  the  men 
of  former  times  were  just  such  men  as  we  ourselves 


ADAM   AND    IIIS    TIMES.  21 

are ;  possessing  like  minds,  influenced  by  like  mo- 
tives, and  subject  to  like  passions.  We  can  make 
allowance  for  the  circumstantial  differences  of  age, 
intelligence,  cultivation,  and  necessity ;  but  human 
nature  has  been  ever  the  same.  So  in  the  lessons 
of  the  Old  Testament,  man  has  ever  been  the  same, 
and  the  operations  of  Divine  grace  to  renew  and 
sanctify  the  soul,  have  been  the  same.  The  differ- 
ence between  one  age  and  another  is  circumstantial ; 
the  agreement  is  substantial.  The  same  God,  the 
same  law,  the  same  grace,  the  same  sinfulness,  have 
been  known  from  Adam  until  now ;  and  the  superior 
clearness  with  which  we  read  these  lessons,  cannot 
make  false  what  was  formerly  true,  nor  useless 
what  once  was  profitable.  It  is  just,  then,  for  us 
to  look  upon  the  generations  of  past  time  and  to 
learn  from  them  the  same  lessons  we  learn  from  liv- 
ing men.  There  is  no  such  difference  in  the  nature 
of  man,  no  such  change  in  the  dealings  of  God,  as 
can  make  obsolete  the  teachings  aforetime  given  to 
instruct  the  Church.  It  is,  rather,  our  superior  ad- 
vantage to  learn  lessons  from  the  entire  Bible — the 
Old  and  New  Testaments — having  the  same  God  for 
their  Author,  the  same  truth  for  their  contents ; 
consistent  in  all  their  teachings,  purifying  in  all 
their  tendencies. 


22  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    II. 

OLD    TESTAMENT    BIOGRAPHIES. 

"  Part  not  with  these  old  names.     See  how  they  shine 
In  these  old  heavens,  like  stars,  whose  rays  no  age 
Can  dim,  nor  boastful  art  of  man  supplant 
By  lights,  the  invention  of  his  fruitful  skill." 

BONAR. 

The  current  proverb,  Example  is  more  powerful 
than  precept,  applies  as  well  to  former  ages  as  to 
present  times.  Men  always  take  less  interest  in 
abstract  principles  than  they  do  in  the  character 
formed  upon  such  principles,  and  the  conduct  flow- 
ing from  them.  History  and  biography  are  merely 
the  written  examples  of  former  times.  Thus  only 
can  we  have  any  faithful  knowledge  of  those  who 
have  passed  off  the  stage  of  action.  We  cannot  see 
them.  They  are  gone.  But  we  can  learn  of  them 
through  the  written  page ;  we  can  almost  recall 
their  times  and  scenes ;  and  all  the  generations 
p^st,  though  dead,  yet  speak  to  us.  It  is  important 
that  we  should  learn  to  interpret  properly  the  les- 
sons they  impart.  We  must  look  upon  these  men 
of  the  past,  just  as  we  now  think  and  judge  of  men 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  23 

that  are  living.  Bad  men  live  around  us,  and  bad 
men  have  lived  before  us.  Even  their  examples 
may  be  profitable,  if  we  see  their  wrong  and  shun 
it.  Good  men  have  now,  and  always  have  had,  their 
imperfections  and  their  sins,  often  amounting  to  the 
most  .lamentable  departures  from  truth  and  duty. 
We  may  still  say  with  Solomon,  "  there  is  not/' — 
and  one  illustrious  example  excepted — there  has  not 
been,  "  a  just  man  upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and 
sinneth  not."  All  faithful  biography  is  the  biography 
of  men  of  like  passions  Avith  ourselves  ;  of  men  in 
like  circumstances,  trials,  and  temptations.  We 
want  to  see  them,  therefore,  just  as  they  were ;  or 
just  as  we  would  see  them,  if  they  lived  and  moved 
around  us.  We  have  often  heard  it  said,  that  the 
best  daguerreotypes  are  those  where  a  man  has  come 
before  the  artist  in  his  every-day  clothes,  and  taken 
his  seat  carelessly  without  much  thought  upon  the 
matter.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  this  is  so.  We  get 
our  friend  as  we  are  accustomed  to  see  him,  and 
everything  is  natural.  But  when  a  man  dresses 
himself  carefully,  puts  himself  in  his  best  position, 
and  tries  to  appear  to  the  best  advantage,  we  get  a 
picture  just  like  that — for  the  instrument  is  faithful — ■ 
but  still  it  is  stately  and  artificial,  not  at  all  a  just 
likeness  of  the  man  we  usually  see.  The  great 
fault  of  the  writers  of  biography  is  just  like  this. 
They  usually  become  eulogists.  They  palliate  the 
faults,  and  magnify  the  virtues  of  their  heroes.  They 
dress  them  in  fine  clothes,  and  put  them  in  artificial 


24  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

positions.  If  there  is  a  scar  on  the  cheek,  they 
give  you  a  side  view ;  if  he  is  lame,  they  avoid  a 
full  length  picture.  You  see  the  man  as  he  appears 
before  the  artist,  and  not  as  he  has  been  wont  to  ap- 
pear before  the  world.  But  take  the  flour  off  the 
miller,  and  the  leather  apron  off  the  blacksmith,  and 
you  hardly  recognize  them. 

The  Bible  is  a  book  of  biography,  because  infinite 
wisdom  has  adapted  it  to  our  instruction.  But  we 
ought  not  to  suppose  that  the  characters  of  men  as 
recorded  in  the  Bible  are  any  better  than  those  re- 
corded in  other  books.  From  the  remarks  just 
made,  we  ought  to  expect  that  they  would  be  rather 
worse  than  in  ordinary  biographies.  For  if  these 
writers  are  divinely  inspired,  they  must  tell  us  the 
truth,  and  in  its  plainest  forms.  Let  us  not  take 
up  the  idea  that  infallibility  of  truth  in  the  record 
implies  that  the  words  and  conduct  recorded  must 
therefore  be  correct.  Let  us  rather  judge  that 
these  sacred  writers,  above  all  others,  will  tell  the 
faults  as  plainly  as  the  virtues  of  men  whose  mem- 
oirs they  prepare  for  us.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to 
make  objection  to  the  inspired  volume  because  it  re- 
cords the  sins  of  men  like  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham, 
and  David.  For  the  record  of  these  sins  is  proof 
of  excellency  in  the  biographer.  The  Divine  artist 
not  only  gives  us  a  truthful  picture,  but  he  places 
the  man  before  us  in  an  every-day  dress  and  atti- 
tude. Thus  our  idea  is  better  of  what  the  man  was; 
and  the  effect  is  better  for  our  instruction.     If  these 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  25 

men  were  represented  as  without  faults,  we  would 
reject  the  narratives  as  overwrought  or  incredible ; 
or  we  would  regard  them  as  quite  out  of  our  sphere. 
Just  because  the  Bible  records  human  history,  its 
characters  are  represented  as  men  ;  because  they 
sinned,  we  are  told  they  did;  and  the  circumstances 
that  attend  their  lives  are  just  such  as  we  should 
expect  in  their  respective  ages.  Men  who  lived  in 
a  rude  age  are  represented  as  rude ;  those  who  had 
but  the  dawn  of  revealed  religion  should  not  appear 
to  walk  in  the  same  light  which  Christianity  shed 
on  the  world  long  after  they  left  it. 

It  is  by  no  means  an  easy  thing  to  decide  what 
allowances  we  should  justly  make  for  the  follies  and 
errors  of  other  ages.  The  law  of  God  is  unchange- 
able in  its  spirit  and  in  its  demands  from  age  to 
age ;  and  ever  since  God  placed  man  upon  the  earth, 
his  conscience  has  discerned  the  difference  between 
wrong  and  right.  And  men  have  always  known 
what  they  ought  to  do  in  some  matters.  Fraud, 
and  falsehood,  and  impurity,  and  violence  have 
never  been  right ;  and  men  have  always  known  this. 
Wilful  transgression  of  a  known  and  recognized 
law,  is  to  be  so  judged  in  every  age.  But  we  know 
very  well  that  the  consciences  of  men  are  often 
much  influenced  by  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
are  placed ;  and  the  amount  of  a  man's  guilt  is  in- 
creased or  diminished  by  the  light  he  had.  One 
hundred  years  ago,  men  of  high  standing  in  the 
Christian  Church  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  used 


26  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

and  sold  intoxicating  liquors,  and  stood  aside  from 
efforts  to  promote  missions  to  the  heathen,  to  an  ex- 
tent that  would  ruin  the  Christian  reputation  of  any 
man  who  would  do  the  like  things  now.  But  we 
judge  of  them  with  due  allowance  for  the  faults  and 
errors  of  their  age.  It  may  not  be  an  easy  thing 
to  decide  how  much  allowance  to  make  for  such 
things.  But  we  get  a  false  view  of  the  past,  if  we 
do  not  remember  this.  For  he  is  a  very  remarkable 
man  who  rises  much  above  the  spirit  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lives. 

We  have  said  that  it  is  more  profitable  for  us, 
that  the  men  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures  should  be 
represented  in  their  natural  characters.  We  learn 
most  when  we  read  of  men  like  ourselves.  We  are 
to  be  followers  of  them  who  through  faith  and  pa- 
tience inherit  the  promises.  When  we  see  that 
men  of  imperfect  piety  have  been  accepted  of  God, 
we  are  not  utterly  disheartened  if  our  own  piety  is 
imperfect.  It  encourages  our  trials  of  patience  that 
the  long  trials  of  Abraham  found  their  reward. 
We  sin  against  God;  we  wander  from  the  path  of 
duty;  we  need  encouragement  to  return.  How 
dark  would  be  our  way,  how  hopeless  our  thoughts, 
if  there  was  no  recorded  instance  of  sin  in  any  of 
God's  children,  or  of  his  mercy  shown  to  a  back- 
slider !  In  these  sacred  histories  we  read  the  re- 
cords of  our  brethren ;  the  records  of  God's  for- 
bearance and  tender  mercy ;  the  records  of  just 
such  a  church  as  exists  around  us  ;  the  records  that 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  27 

are  exactly  suited  for  every  lesson  of  warning  and 
encouragement,  according  to  our  necessities. 

Not  only  are  these  scriptural  portraits  truthful, 
but  they  are  placed  in  the  right  attitude;  are 
clothed  in  the  proper  dress ;  and  are  surrounded  by 
natural  circumstances.  And  these  things  are  all 
'' written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through  patience 
and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures  might  have  hope." 
Kom.  XV.  4. 


28  ADAM  AND  HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   FIRST   MAN. 

**  He,  moulded  by  his  Maker  into  man, 
At  once  upstood.  intelligent,  surveyed 
All  creatures;  with  precision  understood 
Their  purport,  uses,  properties ;  assigned 
To  each  his  name  significant,  and  filled 
With  love  and  wisdom,  rendered  back  to  heaven 
In  praise  harmonious  the  first  air  he  drew." 

COWPER. 

The  well  written  life  of  any  man  might  profit  a 
serious  reader.  This  does  not  mean  that  every 
man's  history  is  equally  valuable.  The  lives  of 
some  men  possess  special  interest.  They  have  held 
some  important'  place  in  history ;  uttered  excellent 
sentiments  ;  done  great  things  ;  or  exerted  a  large 
influence  upon  their  own  and  other  generations. 

In  the  lives  of  few  men  could  mankind  have  a 
more  general  interest  than  in  that  of  the  first  father 
of  our  race.  It  is  indeed  a  long  distance  to  look 
back  to  Adam.  Nearly  five  thousand  years  have 
passed  away  since  he  laid  his  venerable  head  in  the 
dust  from  which  he  sprung ;  generation  after  gen- 
eration  of    his  children  has  filled  the   earth  with 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  29 

their  joys  and  their  sorrows,  and  has  submitted  to 
the  same  stroke  of  inexorable  death.  Yet  Adam 
can  never  be  forgotten.  Even  to  us  and  to  genera- 
tions jet  unborn,  the  institutions  that  began  with 
Adam  are  passing  down  as  blessings;  and  a  far 
and  deep  rolling  tide  of  the  swelling  waters  of  sor- 
row, let  in  upon  us  by  his  rash  hand,  has  submerged 
all  intervening  generations,  and  shall  yet  dash  its 
mighty  surges  against  the  most  distant  shores  of 
time.  There  should  be  a  precedence  of  interest  to 
us  in  the  life  and  character  of  the  first  man.  If 
influence  upon  the  race  gives  interest  to  the  race, 
we  should  all  wish  to  know  as  much  as  possible  of 
Adam  and  of  his  relations  to  us.  The  recorded  in- 
cidents of  his  life  are  few,  though,  if  we  reckon  his 
adult  years,  we  may  regard  his  as  the  longest  life 
of  which  we  know.  But  the  paucity  of  events  is 
compensated  by  peculiar  interest. 

"  Adam,"  says  the  Evangelist  Luke,  "was  the  son 
of  God."  That  is,  being  the  first  of  the  race,  he 
and  our  first  mother  were  formed  by  God's  direct 
agency.  We  may  easily  judge  therefore  that  he 
was  a  perfect  man ;  just  what  a  man  should  be. 
God  pronounced  him  very  good.  His  body  then 
was  well  formed,  strong,  and  healthy :  his  mind  ma- 
ture, active,  and  even  intelligent ;  and  his  affections, 
and  his  conscience  ready  to  respond  to  all  the  holy 
demands  of  God's  moral  law.  It  seems  unreason- 
able to  think  that  God's  crowning  work  of  six  days' 
creation  was  an  overgrown  child ;  having  a  man's 


30  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

physical  powers  and  a  cliild's  intelligence.  Adam 
was  not  helpless  and  dependent  as  an  infant  now  is. 
He  was  finite,  but  he  was  intelligent.  He  knew 
God  his  Creator ;  he  knew  his  relations  and  duties 
to  him ;  and  when  Eve  was  formed,  his  relations 
and  duties  to  her.  This  is  what  is  meant  when  it 
is  said,  he  had  the  law  of  God  written  upon  his 
heart.  And  when  we  are  told  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  every  regenerated  soul  of  man  is  re- 
newed in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that 
created  him,  it  seems  implied  that  man  was  origin- 
ally created  in  the  knowledge  of  his  Maker. 

And  God  made  man  upright.  He  was  not  only 
a  moral  being,  but  a  holy  being.  God  looked  upon 
him  and  declared  that  he  was  very  good.  The 
works  of  God  are  good  because  they  serve  the  end 
for  which  he  made  them.  As  in  human  affairs,  a 
watch  is  good  when  it  keeps  good  time,  and  though 
some  watches  are  of  more  costly  materials,  yet 
every  watch  is  good  if  it  truly  serves  this  end,  so 
in  Divine  matters.  The  sun  is  a  good  creature  of 
God  when  it  fills  the  place  for  which  God  designed 
it ;  a  tree  is  good  when  it  brings  forth  the  fruit  it 
was  designed  to  bear;  and  man,  who  was  to  glorify 
God  by  the  holiness  of  his  character,  can  be  called 
good  only  when  he  is  truly  holy.  As  it  is  impos- 
sible for  us  to  conceive  of  Adam  as  neither  holy  nor 
unholy,  so  we  must  believe  that  he  was  a  holy  being, 
as  God  at  first  created  him. 

And  as   God  made  man  at  the  first,  he  was  an 


ADAM    AND    IIIS   TIMES.  31 

immortal  creature  in  his  whole  person.  We  have 
no  just  reason  to  think  that  death  would  ever  have 
touched  man  if  Adam  had  not  sinned.  We  do  not 
mean  by  this  that  the  lower  orders  of  creatures 
would  never  have  died ;  nor  that  Adam  would  have 
been  incapable  of  all  pain  and  suffering;  nor  that 
he  Avould  always  have  remained  on  earth.  But  the 
occurrence  of  death  to  beasts  that  have  no  immor- 
tal part  is  a  different  thing  from  its  occurrence  to 
man.  Doubtless  the  creatures  are  subject  to  various 
evils  through  the  sin  of  man,  while  yet  they  would 
have  still  been  mortal  had  man  never  transgressed. 
Doubtless  Adam  himself,  even  in  his  estate  of  inno- 
cence, might  have  felt  the  pangs  of  hunger  and 
fatigue,  for  these  seem  inseparable  from  the  capacity 
to  eat  and  to  sleep.  Doubtless  also  this  earth  was 
never  designed  for  the  permanent  home  of  man. 
But  we  may  judge  that,  after  an  allotted  time  upon 
the  earth,  Adam  would  have  passed  away  in  the 
body,  as  did  Enoch  and  Elijah  in  after  years.  The 
fact  that  two  men — sinful  men — have  left  the  earth 
without  dying,  is  abundant  proof  of  the  possibility, 
that  had  man  remained  holy,  this  would  have  been 
the  usual  method  of  his  transfer  from  earth  to 
heaven.  This  at  least  is  certain,  that  death  to  man 
is  a  judicial  sentence,  and  the  fruit  of  sin.  "  By 
one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by 
sin ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men  for  that  all 
have  sinned."  As  God  made  Adam,  he  was  in  soul 
and  in  body  an  immortal  creature. 


32  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

Many  tliouglits  have  been  uttered  in  the  solution 
of  this  question,  How  was  man  made  in  the  image 
of  God  ?  As  God  is  a  pure  Spirit,  so  this  language 
cannot  at  all  refer  to  man's  bodily  form.  Yet  there 
are  several  things  which  together  make  up  the  full 
force  of  the  expression.  As  God  is  a  Spirit,  so  is 
man  in  his  superior  part ;  God  is  intelligent,  so  is 
man  ;  God  is  ever  existing,  man  is  immortal ;  God 
is  the  universal  ruler,  man  has  dominion  over  the 
earth  ;  God  is  holy,  so  was  man  made.  And  though 
this  chief  excellency  of  man  was  lost,  yet  man  has 
not  so  lost  the  image  of  God,  but  that  he  still  pos- 
sesses a  conscience,  and  remains  a  moral  being.  Sin 
darkens  and  defiles  the  conscience,  warps  its  judg- 
ments, and  makes  its  actings  sluggish ;  and  even 
seems  almost  to  sear  it  and  to  destroy  all  healthy 
action.  But  the  result  of  totally  destroying  the 
conscience  in  man,  even  ignorance  and  wickedness 
cannot  entirely  reach.  Man  can  discern  the  dis- 
tinction of  right  and  wrong,  and  approves  and  con- 
demns himself  in  all  he  is  or  does.  This  is  a  dis- 
tinguishing and  essential  characteristic ;  and  by 
this  man  is  separated  from  the  brute  creation,  by 
an  impassable  barrier.  Thought,  memory,  affection, 
and  will,  to  a  limited  extent,  brutes  have ;  but 
neither  have  they,  nor  can  education  impart  to 
them,  a  conscience. 

Many  misconceptions  exist  upon  this  subject,  and 
this  is  a  common  opinion,  "  that  if  conscience  is  an 
essential  part   of  man's  nature,  every   conscience 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIxMES.  33 

ought  to  dictate  the  same  decisions."  But  even  if 
men  were  placed  in  circumstances  exactly  similar, 
it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  conscience  is  the 
power  of  making  infallible  decisions.  As  man's 
memory  is  not  perfect,  nor  his  understanding  al- 
ways right,  so  his  conscience  is  not  infallible.  In- 
form two  men  of  the  facts  in  any  case ;  set  them 
free  from  all  bias,  and  let  them  carefully  consider 
it;  and  even  then  they  may  differ  in  judgment. 
The  judgments  of  conscience  pertain  to  moral  mat- 
ters ;  but  there  is  the  same  need  of  instruction,  of 
impartiality,  and  of  due  consideration.  The  chief 
differences  in  the  decisions  of  the  human  conscience 
arise  from  ignorance,  prejudice,  and  passion.  Cer- 
tainly this  would  be  a  better  world  if  every  man 
would  deal  faithfully,  and  do  justly,  and  speak 
truthfully  as  well  as  he  might  be  able  to  do. 


34  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADAM  IN  PARADISE. 

"  Oh,  happy  pair, 
Lords  of  fair  Eden's  blooming  range,  where  earth, 
Benignant  parent,  from  her  verdant  lap 
Spontaneous  poured  her  bounteous  sweets,  and  gave 
"Whate'er  could  minister  delight." 

Hayes. 

Man,  as  he  came  from  the  hands  of  his  Creator, 
was  a  glorious  and  happy  being.  God  was  his 
Father  and  his  Friend;  and  in  God  and  in  his  works 
Adam  found  constant  delight.  In  kind  care  for 
him,  God  planted  a  garden  eastward  in  Eden.  The 
whole  earth  was  then  beautiful.  Beautiful  scenery, 
and  fruitful  trees,  and  fragrant  flowers,  and  joyous 
living  things  were  everywhere  around  him. 

But  Eden  was  earth's  fairest  garden-spot;  more 
beautiful  for  situation  than  other  spots,  more  fertile, 
better  planted,  better  watered.  He  that  made 
man's  eye  knew  what  prospects  could  charm  it ;  he 
that  formed  man's  ear  knew  every  sound  of  natural 
melody ;  he  that  gave  taste  to  man  knew  what  food 
would  gratify  it ;  and  all  these  things,  we  doubt  not, 
he  gathered  about  the  garden.     The  name  ''Eden" 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  35 

signifies  pleasantness  or  pleasure ;  and  to  a  con- 
tented mind  this  was  a  spot  of  peace  and  delight. 

As  the  Scriptures  use  the  word  "Paradise"  to  sig- 
nify that  garden  and  also  heaven  itself,  so,  doubt- 
less, it  bore  some  resemblance  to  heaven.  Life 
breathed  in  its  air,  life  flowed  in  its  streams,  life 
bloomed  and  ripened  in  its  fruits,  life  was  the  pro- 
mised reward  of  its  holy  labours.  How  glorious 
was  man  in  Eden ;  lord,  but  not  tyrant  of  all ;  king 
in  a  realm  of  peace,  and  order,  and  happiness  ;  a 
priest  to  offer  sweet  thanksgivings  to  the  Almighty ; 
no  dangers  threatened  from  disease  or  death ;  peace- 
ful within,  safe  around;  formed  for  endless  honour, 
endless  improvement,  endless  usefulness;  angels  his 
friends,  God  his  visitor  !  And  all  these  blessings, 
had  Adam  remained  in  holiness,  he  would  have 
transmitted  to  countless  millions ;  who,  inheriting 
from  him  peace,  and  righteousness,  and  blessedness, 
would  have  held  him  in  everlasting  honour.* 

Yet  this  perfection  of  man  was  necessarily  the 
perfection  of  a  finite  creature.  We  may  notice 
several  things  to  show  the  limits  of  his  condition. 

1.  Man  was  liable  to  fall.  He  was  capable  of 
standing,  but  free  to  sin.  Absolute  incapability  of 
change  belongs  only  to  God  himself.  Adam,  of  hia 
own  nature,  could  not  be  unchangeable  in  holiness. 
Some  suppose  that  a  free  creature  must  of  necessity 
be  liable  to  sin  ;  and  that  even  God  cannot  prevent 
a  free  creature  from  sinning.  A  most  dreadful 
*  Dwight's  Theology,  i.  349. 


36  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

doctrine,  the  truth  of  which  must  forbid  God  to 
promise  everlasting  life;  and  must  prevent  the  very 
inhabitants  of  heaven  from  having  any  assurance 
of  their  continued  standing !  AVe,  rather,  believe 
that  God  can  establish  a  free  being  in  holiness  and 
happiness.  But  he  placed  Adam  in  an  estate  of 
probation,  with  power  to  keep  the  law  of  God,  but 
liable  to  transgress  it. 

2.  God  placed  him  in  the  garden  to  till  the 
ground.  Doubtless  the  labour  of  Adam  before  the 
fall,  was  exempt  from  the  toilsome,  laborious,  and 
often  fruitless  exertion  which  men  must  often  now 
put  forth.  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  thou  shalt 
eat  bread,"  is  a  part  of  the  curse  afterwards  given. 
Labour  in  Paradise  was  occupation  rather  than  toil ; 
employment  that  was  pleasant  and  healthful  to  soul 
and  body,  rather  than  an  irksome  task.  And,  if 
Adam,  even  then,  needed  labour  for  his  happiness, 
let  us  learn  that  some  useful  occupation  is  far  more 
needful  now  for  every  man,  if  he  would  be  happy  in 
the  enjoyment  of  life,  or  if  he  would  keep  himself 
from  being  a  useless,  indeed  a  pernicious  member 
of  society.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  be 
blessed  in  himself  or  a  blessing  to  others,  who  has 
not  something  to  do.  "The  great  secret"  of  keep- 
ing the  heart,  says  Bishop  Home,  "  is  employment. 
An  empty  house  is  everybody's  property.  All  the 
vagrants  about  the  country  will  take  up  their  quar- 
ters in  it.  Always,  therefore,  have  something  to 
do,  and  you  will  always  have  something  to  think 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  37 

about.  God  has  placed  every  person  in  some  sta- 
tion, and  every  station  has  a  set  of  duties  belonging 
to  it."  Adam  was  not  idle  in  Paradise;  and  idle- 
ness still  less  becomes  us. 

3.  God  put  bounds  upon  the  liberty  of  Adam. 
He  vras  free,  but  not  lawless.  He  must  be  reminded 
that  he  was  a  dependent  being.  Lord  of  all  he  saw, 
he  must  be  reminded  that  he  was  subject  to  God's 
government.  God  forbade  him  to  eat  of  one  tree, 
to  remind  him  of  his  subjection.  This  tree  also  no- 
tified Adam  that  he  was  liable  to  fall.  It  was  a 
kind  and  a  perpetual  warning  :  "  Beware,  lest  thou 
depart  from  God."  Besides,  it  shows  man  that  the 
highest  kind  of  happiness  is  to  be  found  in  the  en- 
joyment of  God  himself.  Earthly  things  cannot 
satisfy  the  soul  of  man.  "  There  was  a  want  even 
in  Paradise,"  says  the  excellent  Boston,  "so  that 
the  forbidden  tree  was,  in  effect,  the  hand  of  all 
creatures,  pointing  men  away  from  themselves ;  it 
was  the  sign  of  emptiness,  hung  out  before  the  door 
of  creation,  with  this  inscription,  '  This  is  not  your 
rest.'"* 

And  here  we  may  say  that  if  God  made  it  a  law 
even  in  Paradise,  when  man  was  yet  in  his  inno- 
cence, that  he  should  deny  his  natural  appetites  ;  if 
self-denial  was  the  law  of  Eden,  how  much  more 
proper  is  it  for  sinful  man,  whose  appetites  and  pas- 
sions have  irregular  and  morbid  cravings,  to  set  due 
bounds  to  them,  and  even  for  wholesome  purposes, 

*  Fourfold  State. 
4 


38  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

to  abstain  from  lawful  indulgences  !  It  is  a  senti- 
ment of  infidelity,  and  not  of  piety,  that  the  very 
existence  of  an  appetite  is  the  Divine  allowance 
that  a  man  may  indulge  it.  It  never  was  true, 
even  when  man  was  holy ;  and  it  is  much  less  true 
now,  when  man's  selfish  passions  so  often  destroy 
himself  and  others.  Self-denial  was  an  element  of 
piety  in  man  unfallen  ;  much  more  must  every  man 
now  deny  himself,  both  to  mortify  sin,  and  to  do 
good  to  others.  We  are  called  unto  liberty,  but 
liberty  itself  must  be  wisely  used.  And  we  may 
often  adopt  the  noble  sentiment  of  Paul,  "If  meat 
make  my  brother  to  ofi'end,  I  will  eat  no  meat  while 
the  world  stands."  And  it  is  plainly  evident,  from 
the  fact  that  God  made  Adam  stand  back  from  this 
tree,  that  the  self-denials  required  of  us  may  be  no 
abridgment  of  our  pure  enjoyment.  Adam  was 
perfectly  happy,  and  might  have  continued  so,  if 
he  had  not  tasted  of  the  forbidden  tree.  Indeed, 
the  service  of  God  is  true  happiness  and  all  the 
pleasures  we  think  to  gain  by  disobedience  will  prove 
delusive.  And  we  may  extend  the  principle  further 
than  to  the  things  directly  required  of  us  by  the 
commands  of  God.  When  our  Lord  says,  "  It  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  he  directs  our 
thoughts  to  this  important  principle  of  our  nature, 
that  whatever  pleasure  we  find  in  the  gratification 
of  ourselves  is  inferior  in  its  nature  and  short-lived 
in  its  influence,  when  compared  with  the  enjoyment 
we  receive  from  eff'orts  to  do  good  to  others.     In 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  89 

truth,  let  our  self-denials  be  of  what  kind  they  may, 
we  receive  longer  and  better  pleasure  from  denying 
ourselves  for  any  righteous  end.  If  we  restrain 
our  appetites  from  constant  indulgence,  we  enjoy 
more  the  gratifications  we  do  have  ;  and  if  we  spend 
ourselves  or  our  substance  in  doing  good  to  others, 
we  have  the  highest  pleasure  in  reflecting  upon  this. 


40  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  y. 

THE    GARDEN   AND    ITS    TREES. 

"It  was  a  place 
Chosen  by  the  sovereign  planter  when  he  formed 
All  things  to  man's  delightful  use." 

MiLTOX. 

Many  opinions  have  been  formed  respecting  the 
situation  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  it  might  grat- 
ify curiosity,  but  it  would  secure  very  little  profit, 
to  consider  these  at  any  length.  Yet  this  brief 
statement  may  be  made,  that  the  site  of  the  gar- 
den has  been  variously  fixed  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe,  and  even  outside  of  the  globe.  Some 
have  indeed  supposed,  that  all  the  landmarks  of  the 
ancient  world  were  obliterated  by  the  flood ;  and 
that  therefore  it  is  in  vain  that  we  attempt  to  iden- 
tify the  spot  from  the  description  in  Genesis. 
Others  judge,  that  the  Jewish  historian  speaks  of 
the  rivers  and  the  surrounding  country  as  they  ex- 
isted when  he  wrote ;  and  that  therefore  we  n;ay 
attempt  to  find  the  situation  of  the  garden.  Doubt- 
less the  deluge  did  make  great  changes  in  the  chan- 
nels of  rivers  and  In  the  face  of  the  country  in  va- 


ADAM   AND   IIIS   TIMES.  41 

rious  ways ;  yet  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that 
the  historian  designs  to  give  information  by  his 
terms  of  description.  But  those  who  so  understand 
Moses,  have  had  no  agreement  among  themselves. 
In  all  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth ;  in  Syria, 
Babylonia,  Tartary,  China,  Austria,  Palestine,  Mes- 
opotamia, Armenia,  Ceylon,  Ethiopia,  Prussia,  Nor- 
way, and  Siberia,  has  the  site  of  the  garden  been 
fixed  by  various  persons ;  and  some,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  have  even 
placed  it  within  the  orbit  of  the  moon,  or  in  the 
moon  itself.  The  celebrated  Cardinal  Bellarmine 
held  the  opinion  that  the  garden  of  Eden  yet  exists 
in  some  unknown  portion  of  the  earth ;  and  that 
there  Enoch  and  Elijah  were  taken  when  they  were 
carried  away  in  the  body :  but  this  view  was  not 
even  adopted  by  the  theologians  of  his  own  church.* 
But  it  is  not  needful  to  pursue  this  matter. 

The  opinion  most  generally  adopted,  as  agreeable 
to  a  reasonable  view  of  the  scriptural  testimony,  is, 
that  Paradise  was  situated  in  Armenia ;  and  that 
Moses  designs  to  point  out  the  well-known  rivers, 
Tigris  and  Euphrates,  as  the  streams  that  watered 
the  garden.  Yet  the  situation  is,  after  all,  of  very 
little  importance  ;  and  the  conjectures  of  learned 
men  serve  rather  to  throw  perplexity  upon  the  mat- 
ter than  to  settle  the  simple  question. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  size  or  the  posi- 
tion of  the  garden,  it  was   a  Paradise   planted  by 

*  See  Turrettine,  i.  528 
4* 


42  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

God  for  the  liappy  abode  of  man.  And  God  placed 
in  it  every  tree  that  could  add  beauty  to  the  scenery 
or  provide  food  for  man.  We  need  not  be  surprised 
that  Adam  should  live  entirely  upon  vegetable  food, 
or  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  use  of  animal 
food  in  the  early  ages.  In  the  most  densely  inhab- 
ited parts  of  the  earth  even  now,  animal  food  is 
little  used.  Populous  nations  live  entirely  on  the 
fruits  of  the  earth.  It  is  forbidden  by  the  religion 
of  some  tribes  to  take  life ;  and  only  in  the  coldest 
climates  does  the  use  of  flesh  seem  a  necessity.  A 
grant  was  made  to  Noah  to  use  the  flesh  of  animals, 
accompanied  by  a  restriction,  which,  we  believe  upon 
New  Testament  authority,  is  still  in  force,  that  no 
blood  should  be  eaten.  (Compare  Gen.  ix.  4,  with 
Acts  XV.  29.)  To  Adam  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
were  for  food. 

So  the  large  and  fruitful  garden  was  filled  with 
every  kind  of  food  for  the  support  and  the  health- 
ful gratification  of  its  happy  occupants.  Fields  of 
cereals  waved  in  the  summer's  wind ;  heavy  ladened 
boughs  of  mellow  fruits  hung  within  their  reach ; 
vines  ran  along  the  ground  or  climbed  up  to  hang 
their  tempting  clusters  on  the  friendly  trees ;  and 
each  season  provided  its  variety  and  abundance, 
that  man  might  eat  for  himself,  or  might  enjoy  the 
happiness  which  the  creatures  around  him  received 
from  the  full  bounty  of  their  common  Creator. 

Special  mention  is  made  of  two  trees  in  Eden. 
The  tree  of  life  grew  in  the  midst  of  the  garden ; 


ADAiM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  43 

and  there  was  also  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil.  It  is  needless  to  inquire  whether  two 
species,  or  two  single  trees  are  meant ;  nor  need  we 
do  more  than  mention  a  few  opinions  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  trees.  The  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  the  Mohammedans  declare  was  wheat ; 
Christians  generally  take  it  for  an  apple ;  some 
Jews  say  the  vine,  and  others  the  fig,  and  add  that 
from  its  leaves  our  first  parents  made  aprons  to 
cover  their  nakedness.  This  much  only  we  know, 
that  this  tree  was  of  beautiful  appearance,  and  its 
fruit  could  be  eaten.  God  gave  it  a  place  in  Eden 
for  the  trial  of  man's  obedience ;  to  remind  him  of 
his  subjection ;  to  warn  him  of  his  liability  to  fall ; 
and  to  point  him  to  himself  as  the  true  source  of 
his  enjoyment.  The  influence  upon  man  was  moral. 
It  was  true  then  as  always,  "  Not  that  which  enter- 
eth  into  the  mouth  defileth  the  man."  By  God's 
appointment  this  tree  indicated  man's  moral  condi- 
tion. If  he  obeyed  God  and  refrained  from  the 
tree,  he  knew  the  benefits  of  obedience  ;  if  he  trans- 
gressed, he  knew  the  evils  of  disobedience.  The 
whole  account  is  to  be  taken,  not  as  an  allegory, 
but  as  a  sacramental  record.  The  tree  was  an 
eternal  sign  of  things  spiritual.  So  has  God  ever 
taught  man,  both  before  and  since  the  fall.  The 
name  of  the  tree  gave  solemn  warning  of  that  ex- 
perimental acquaintance  with  evil  that  would  surely 
follow  his  partaking  of  it :  the  tree  was  placed  be- 
fore his  eyes  to  show  that  man  was  free  to  stand  or 


44  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

fall  upon  his  own  choice ;  while  the  fact  that  there 
was  but  a  single  tree,  surrounded  by  so  large  an 
abundance,  made  the  inducement  to  trangress  God's 
will  as  slight  as  any  scene  of  probation  could  make 
it. 

The  tree  of  life  was,  doubtless,  also  sacramental. 
We  cannot  judge  that  the  physical  virtues  of  any 
food  could  bestow  everlasting  life.  This  tree  was  a 
sign  and  symbol  of  life  to  obedient  man.  This  tree 
is  elsewhere  mentioned  in  the  Bible ;  and  is  said  to 
be  also  in  the  Paradise  of  God  above.  There  are 
not  wanting  reasons  for  believing  that  the  tree  of 
life  was  a  symbol  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Un- 
fallen  man  did  not,  indeed,  need  him  as  a  Mediator 
or  a  Saviour,  but  the  Second  Person  of  the  God- 
head was  not  unknown  in  Eden.  Christ  is  the  true 
tree  of  life  to  sinners  ;  but  we  find  no  access  if  we 
come  in  the  same  way,  and  with  the  same  hopes,  as 
Adam.  So  long  as  man  was  innocent,  he  had  free 
access  to  life ;  but  as  sinners  we  must  approach  in 
penitence  and  faith,  through  the  new  and  living  way 
opened  up  to  us.     Heb.  x.  19,  20. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  45 


CHAPTER    VI. 

MARRIAGE    AS    GIVEN    IN   EDEN. 

"  Across  the  threshold  led, 
And  every  tear  kissed  off  as  soon  as  shed, 
His  house  she  enters  ;  there  to  be  a  light 
Shining  within,  when  all  without  is  night ; 
A  guardian  angel  o'er  his  life  presiding, 
Doubling  his  pleasures  and  his  cares  dividing." 

KOGERS. 

The  first  institution  of  social  life  was  the  ordi- 
nance of  Marriage ;  and  God  has  added  none  since 
of  greater  importance,  for  the  purity,  usefulness, 
and  comfort  of  the  race.  And  the  fact,  that  the 
subject  of  marriage, — its  importance,  influence,  and 
obligations,  is  not  often  made  the  theme  of  deliber- 
ate instruction,  may  justify  its  larger  consideration 
on  these  pages  than  would  otherwise  seem  suitable. 
It  seems  certainly  true,  that  more  things  are  delib- 
erately said,  in  our  communities,  against  the  true 
ordinance  of  marriage,  than  should  be  allowed  to 
pass  without  rebuke;  and  yet  the  chief  instructions 
given  are  casual  and  incidental,  rather  than  chosen 
and  well-considered.     Doubtless  there  are  persons 


46  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

of  mature  age  among  us,  who  can  say  that  they 
have  never  listened  to  a  single  public  discourse,  that 
was  designed  to  explain  this  Divine  ordinance. 
Yet  surely  there  have  been  corruptions  enough, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  from  the  vile  passions  of 
men,  from  infidelity,  and  even  from  the  deliberate 
expression  of  religious  tenets,  to  call  forth  just  ex- 
positions of  the  law  of  God  upon  this  especial  point. 
It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  human  welfare, 
that  just  views  of  marriage  should  be  entertained, 
and  we  do  not  need  to  go  beyond  the  record  in 
Genesis,  to  receive  the  most  important  hints  upon 
the  subject ;  though,  indeed,  it  will  be  wise  for  us, 
to  interpret  these  simple  statements  by  the  further 
light  thrown  upon  them  in  all  the  word  of  God. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  know,  in  the  beginning  of 
our  thoughts,  that  marriage  is  an  ordinance  of  God. 
The  Divine  Creator  having  made  man,  and  placed 
him  upon  the  earth,  thought  it  not  good  that  he 
should  be  alone.  So  he  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall 
upon  Adam,  and  from  a  rib  of  his  side  he  formed 
Eve,  the  first  woman,  and  brought  her  to  the  man, 
and  Adam  received  her  as  his  wife.  And  not  only 
was  marriage  thus  instituted  by  God,  in  man's  pri- 
meval age  of  innocence,  but  when  the  glorious  Son 
of  God, — who,  even  in  Paradise,  was  the  Revealer 
of  the  Godhead, — appeared  on  earth  in  our  nature, 
he  gave  his  personal  public  attendance  at  a  marriage 
in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  took  occasion  to  work  there 
the  first  of   that  splendid  series  of  miracles,  by 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  47 

"which  he  proved  himself  the  Messiah  of  God.* 
This  is  the  first  great  thought  upon  the  subject : 
Marriage  is  no  device  of  human  expediency,  to  be 
taken  up,  or  thrown  off,  at  the  whim  of  man.  It  is 
an  ordinance  of  God  ;  only  properly  assumed,  when 
regard  is  had  to  his  will;  only  properly  maintained, 
when  the  laws  which  he  has  given  for  it  are  known 
and  regarded. 

The  Scriptures  teach  us,  here  and  elsewhere,  that 
marriage  is  to  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman. 
Human  iniquity,  in  many  lands,  and  for  many  ages, 
has  corrupted  this  arrangement.  Instances  have 
been  known,  where  one  woman  has  been  the  wife 
of  many  husbands. f  Far  more  frequently,  one 
man  has  been  the  husband  of  many  wives.  And  it 
seems  far  more  strange  to  know  that  this  great  de- 
parture from  the  original  ordinance  was  tolerated, 
for  many  ages,  even  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  in 
the  families  of  patriarchs  and  prophets.  But  man's 
utmost  neglect  or  transgression  of  God's  ordinances 
has  no  effect  to  change  the  law  itself,  or  to  release 
man  from  his  obligations.  The  first  record  of  direct 
opposition  to  the  polygamy  of  the  old  dispensation, 
we  read  in  the  prophecies  of  Malachi.  He  not  only 
maintains  the  true  law  of  marriage,  but  declares 
that  the  training  of  the  families  of  men  in  godliness, 

*  James's  Family  Monitor,  chap.  i. 

f  J.  C.  Lowrie's  two  years  in  India,  222.  Schlegel  says  it 
is  legally  established  among  the  Buddhists.  Phil,  of  Hist. 
Lect.  III.     See  also  Grote's  Greece,  ii.  386. 


48  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

was  the  design  of  God,  in  ordering  that  a  man 
should  have  but  one  wife.  It  would  seem  that 
through  the  expostulations  of  this  prophet,  a  re- 
formation had  been  wrought  among  the  Jewish 
people.  For  though  polygamy  belonged  to  every 
period  of  the  Old  Testament  history,  from  the  times 
of  the  patriarchs,  we  find  not  a  trace  of  it  in  Judea 
in  the  New  Testament  times.  The  teachings  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  express  upon  this  subject. 
He  declares  that  Moses  tolerated  a  departure  from 
the  law  as  originally  given,  because  of  the  hardness 
of  the  hearts  of  men ;  but  that  in  the  beginning 
God  ordained  marriage  for  a  single  pair.  Because 
of  this  exposition  from  the  lips  of  Christ,  this  has 
remained,  ever  since,  the  teaching  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

From  the  account  here  given,  we  may  learn,  that 
marriage  is  properly  founded  upon  the  mutual  affec- 
tion of  the  parties,  and  is  designed  for  their  mutual 
benefit.  God  said  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone ; 
and  he  would  make  for  him  a  helper,  his  counter- 
part. 

There  are  several  matters  we  may  notice  in 
the  language  of  judicious  commentators,  who  have 
remarked  upon  them.  Dr.  Scott  says,  "  Eve  was 
taken  from  Adam,  not  from  the  ground,  that  there 
might  be  a  natural  foundation  of  moderate  subor- 
dination on  the  woman's  part,  and  sympathizing 
tenderness  on  the  man's  :  as  a  man  rules  over,  yet 
carefully  defends   and  tenderly  takes  care   of   his 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  49 

own  body."  So  Matthew  Henry,  with  forcible 
quaintness,  says :  "  The  woman  was  made  of  a  rib 
out  of  the  side  of  Adam ;  not  out  of  his  head  to 
top  him ;  nor  out  of  his  feet  to  be  trampled  on  by 
him ;  but  out  of  his  side  to  be  equal  with  him : 
under  his  arm,  to  be  protected ;  near  hig"  heart,  to  be 
beloved."  Nor  can  we  easily  exhaust  the  meaning 
of  the  word,  a  help-meet.  It  does  not  mean  that 
Eve  was  another  self  for  Adam.  But  it  is  wisely 
ordered  by  Providence,  that  the  very  diiferences  of 
natural  constitution  between  the  sexes,  should  serve 
for  mutual  benefit.  Man  has  his  strength,  woman 
has  hers  ;  man  his  weaknesses,  and  woman  hers : 
and  they  are  all  the  better  adapted  to  be  mutual 
helpers,  because  they  are  not  alike.  Doubtless  our 
readers  are  familiar  with  a  beautiful  passage  in  the 
writings  of  AVashington  Irving,  which  has  been 
often  quoted,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  influence 
of  a  wife  to  sustain  her  husband  in  times  of  dejec- 
tion and  adversity  ;  aptly  and  finely  comparing  her 
to  a  vine  that  clasps  its  tendrils  around  a  sturdy 
tree,  and  climbs  up  upon  its  strength ;  and  then 
when  the  lightning  has  stricken  and  splintered  the 
tree,  the  vine  seems  to  bind  it  together,  and  to  sup- 
port in  turn,  where  it  has  been  supported.  And 
there  can  be  no  doubt  in  any  thoughtful  mind,  that 
a  happy  marriage  makes  both  parties  more  valuable 
members  of  society.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  a 
man  who  marries  is  less  independent  than  before ; 
but  he  has  thus  lost  a  feeling  he  ought  never  to 


50  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

have  cherished  ;  and  for  this  very  reason  he  is  more 
to  be  depended  upon.  Such  a  man  now  has  others 
to  care  for  besides  himself.  He  has  too  much  at 
stake,  he  has  too  many  feelings  beside  his  own  to 
consult,  he  has  too  many  interests  besides  his  own 
to  secure,  to  allow  him  to  make  reckless  movements, 
or  to  permit  him  to  be  careless  of  things  that  affect 
the  welfare  of  society. 

Few  things  are  more  important  for  the  formation 
of  a  just  character,  and  the  proper  discharge  of  our 
duties,  than  a  sense  of  our  personal  responsibility. 
In  many  respects  this  is  better  felt  in  this  relation 
than  ever  otherwise.  The  experience  which  grows 
out  of  the  family  relation  is  needful  to  form  a  sym- 
metrical character.  On  the  one  hand,  there  are 
energies  brought  out  for  the  maintenance  and  com- 
fort of  the  household,  and  there  is  an  economical 
and  proper  application  of  the  resources,  such  as  we 
do  not  usually  see  where  the  motives  are  wanting, 
which  the  family  relation  supplies ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  only  in  the  family  that  we  learn  to  exer- 
cise those  affections  and  sympathies  that  are  so 
much  needed  in  a  world  Hke  this.  Truly  we  may 
repeat  the  words  of  Paradise,  "  It  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone."  By  the  virtues  it  originates  and 
fosters,  we  may  recognize  marriage  as  a  kind  ordi- 
nation of  God  for  the  preservation,  the  usefulness, 
and  the  comfort  of  the  race. 

And  surely  this  record  bears  upon  its  face  the 
testimony  which  Paul  only  more  clearly  gives  us  af-»- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  61 

terwards,  that  marriage,  thus  ordained  by  God  for 
the  good  of  man,  is  honourable  in  all.  By  this  is 
not  meant  that  it  is  obligatory  upon  all  without  ex- 
ception ;  for  circumstances  may  fully  justify  indi- 
viduals in  remaining  unmarried;  there  may  be 
times  of  perilous  persecution,  when  an  apostle,  who 
even  then  does  not  venture  to  forbid  marriage,  may 
pronounce  it,  for  the  present  distress,  inexpedient ; 
and  there  may  be  persons  who  can  rightfully  pur- 
pose to  live  single. 

But  the  Scriptures   regard  this  institution  as  so 
important,  that  no  unwise  restrictions  are  laid  upon 
it ;  the  estate  is  holy  and  honourable.     Long  before 
this,  had  celibacy  been  regarded,  in  some  portions 
of  the  world,  as  a  peculiar  privilege  and  a  holy  duty. 
Among  the  Egyptians,  the  priests  of  Isis  were  bound 
to  live  unmarried ;  in  the  East,  celibacy  was  hon- 
oured ;  and  both  the  Persians  and  the  Romans  had 
their  vestal  virgins,  consecrated  to  their  respective 
idolatries.     Perhaps   the   apostle's  words  refer  to 
these  ;  perhaps  he  looked  forward,  by  the  prophetic 
vision,  to  greater  corruptions,  yet  to  be  introduced 
into  the  Christian  Church.     "  Forbidding  to  marry" 
is  one  of  the   Scriptural  marks  of  departure  from 
the  faith,  and  is  especially  mentioned  by  the  same 
apostle,  when  he  would  foretell  the  rise  and  charac- 
teristics and'  fall  of  the  Church  of  Rome.     And  the 
fulfilment  of  his  words,  thus  far,  may  be  seen  in  the 
prohibitions   of  that  apostate   Church,   against  the 
marriage  of  her  clergy,  and  other  religious  orders  ; 


52  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

and  the  "wisdom  of  the  Scriptural  rule  is  proved  by 
the  miserable  results  of  priestly  celibacy  for  ages. 
The  standing  of  the  Romish  Church,  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  marriage,  is  like  her  position  upon  many 
other  matters.  The  professions  of  that  body  are, 
in  many  things,  almost  as  near  right  as  possible ; 
and  yet  she  may  have  professions,  and  has  practice 
abundant,  in  the  same  matters,  directly  contrary  to 
right.  Theoretically,  she  has  but  one  God;  practi- 
cally, she  has  many ;  theoretically,  God  alone  re- 
ceives true  worship ;  practically,  more  prayers  are 
addressed  to  the  Virgin  Mary  than  to  Christ;  theo- 
retically, almost  every  orthodox  doctrine  can  be 
found  in  her  creed ;  practically,  her  councils  and 
her  teachers  have  introduced  an  amazing  number  of 
important  errors,  to  obscure  the  truth,  to  cover  it 
over,  and  to  prevent  its  wholesome  influence.  Upon 
the  subject  of  marriage,  the  Romish  Church  exerts 
a  wholesome  influence,  in  a  single  respect,  that  the 
tie  is  rendered  permanent,  and  almost  indissoluble ; 
but  here  also  appear  the  contradictory  teachings,  so 
characteristic  of  her.  On  the  one  hand,  she  aflirms 
that  marriage  is  a  solemn  sacrament,  instituted  by 
Christ,  and  pronounces  a  fearful  curse  upon  all  who 
deny  this ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  she  peremptorily 
forbids  marriage  to  all  her  priesthood,  and  in  the 
face  of  all  her  members,  extols  the  virtue  of  per- 
petual chastity,  encourages  vows  for  this  end,  erects 
monasteries  and  nunneries,  and  fills  them  with  those 
that  are  forbidden  to  marry,  and  regards  these  per- 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  53 

sons  as  only  the  more  holy,  because  they  have  re- 
frained from  the  use  of  this  sacrament  of  the  house 
of  God  ! 

Now  directly  in  opposition  to  the  existing  cor- 
ruptions of  idolatrous  nations  all  around  him,  and 
to  the  prospective  corruptions  of  the  great  apostasy 
befor§  him,  the  Apostle  Paul  returns  to  the  original 
law  of  Eden,  and  declares  that  "marriage  is  hon- 
ourable in  all."  And  it  is  the  only  effectual  j^re- 
servative  of  human  happiness  and  human  purity. 
Individual  persons,  through  natural  disposition,  or 
by  the  force  of  righteous  principles,  may  live  in 
purity  and  usefulness  without  marriage ;  but  ca- 
lamitous experience  has  abundantly  proved,  that  no 
large  class  of  persons,  taken  indiscriminately  from 
human  society,  can  be  bound  to  celibacy,  without 
producing  a  state  of  morals  the  most  miserable  and 
corrupt.  Prophecy  foretells  these  evils  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  ;  history  has  written  their  dark 
records ;  and  their  gloomy  shadows  fall  now  upon 
every  land  where  that  is  the  prevailing  faith.  The 
true  and  wholesome  doctrine  is,  that  marriage  is 
sacred,  but  not  a  sacrament ;  sacred  in  this  sense, 
that  its  vows  are  inviolable ;  sacred  in  this,  that 
God  will  judge  all  that  break  these  solemn  obliga- 
tions ;  and  sacred,  that  it  subserves  the  most  valu- 
able ends  to  promote  righteousness  in  the  earth. 
How  well  does  our  great  English  poet  describe  it : 


54  ADAM   AXD   HIS    TIMES. 

"  By  it 
Founded  in  reason,  loyal,  just,  and  pure, 
Kelations  dear,  and  all  the  charities 
Of  father,  son,  and  brother  first  were  known  ; 
Tar  be  it  that  we  should  write  it  sin  or  blame, 
Or  think  it  unbefitting  holiest  place. 
Perpetual  fountain  of  domestic  sweets."* 

But  these  thoughts  would  be  too  lamentably  im- 
perfect, and  especially,  alas  !  too  inapplicable  to 
guowing  evils  in  our  times^  without  adding  this  im- 
portant principle,  that  marriage  is  designed  by  God 
to  be  a  2^erma7ient  relationship.  There  is  virtually, 
by  Divine  permission,  a  severing  of  the  ties  that 
have  bound  us  to  an  endeared  home,  from  our  child- 
hood up ;  and  one  man  and  one  woman,  coming 
forth  from  their  several  parental  homes,  solemnly 
vow  to  cleave  to  each  other,  leaving  all  others  for 
each  other,  forming  a  new  family  in  the  earth,  and 
declaring  that  death  only  shall  separate  them.  So 
runs  the  original  record:  "Therefore  shall  a  man 
leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  cleave 
unto  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh."  That 
is,  by  the  covenant  of  marriage,  through  the  ordi- 
nance of  God,  a  man  and  his  wife  become  kindred 
to  each  other;  a  relationship  is  formed,  as  true,  and 
more  tender  and  intimate  than  that  between  a 
parent  and  a  child;  and  it  can  never  be  sundered, 
but  by  the  death  of  one  party,  or  by  guilt  which 
God  will  avenge.  Henceforward  these  parties  are 
to  love  each  other  as  their  ownselves. 
*  Paradise  Lost,  iv.  755. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  55 

It  is  quite  impossible,  indeed,  that  their  views  and 
wishes  should  be  always  alike.  However  congenial 
their  tempers,  or  however  happy  their  union,  no 
two  persons  can  live  long  together  without  dif- 
fering in  their  judgments  and  desires  ;  and  we  may 
expect  these  differences  to  be  more  frequent  and 
greater,  because  of  the  imperfections  and  the  sinful- 
ness of  our  nature,  as  now  fallen. 

Marriage  does  not  overlook  these  things,  but  is 
wisely  adapted  to  soften  down  the  roughness  of  our 
characters.  And  mutual  forbearance,  and  mutual 
affection,  and  a  common  purpose  to  serve  the  same 
God,  and  a  common  interest  in  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  prosperity  of  the  household,  and  a  wise  re- 
gard to  the  Divine  purposes  in  the  discipline  of  life, 
can  even  make  these  diversities  work  together  for 
mutual  happiness  and  mutual  benefit.  No  wise 
parties  expect  to  find  perfection  in  each  other,  and 
these  solemn  vows  are  made  with  the  full  knowledge 
that  forbearance  will  be  called  for.  The  scriptural 
rule  to  regulate  the  whole  matter  is  love.  Let  a 
man  love  his  wife  even  as  himself.  Some  things 
are  not  necessarily  included  in  the  love  a  man  has 
for  his  own  body.  A  man  does  not  need  to  believe 
that  he  has-  a  strong  body,  or  a  beautiful  body,  or  a 
healthy  body ;  but  it  is  his  body,  and  he  noui'ishes, 
and  cherishes,  and  loves  it  as  such.  And  if  it  be  true 
that  a  man's  true  love  for  his  wife  will  make  him 
sometimes  blind  to  her  imperfections,  and  always 
lenient  to  them, — for  charity  thinketh  no  evil, — it 


66  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

is  still  also  true  that  a  man  is  bound  to  cherish  his 
wife,  that  a  woman  is  bound  to  love  her  husband, 
even  as  their  ownselves,  when  the  warmest  affec- 
tion cannot  overlook  most  grievous  and  serious  de- 
ficiencies. It  is  manifest  that  the  severest  tests  of 
conjugal  affection  are  not  found  in  those  evils  which 
we  class  among  the  imperfections  of  our  nature. 
Sin,  which  renders  the  law  of  marriage  more  need- 
ful, has  brought  in,  also,  many  and  severer  tests  to 
try  its  strength.  When  these  parties,  in  the  bloom 
and  promise  of  their  youth,  stand  together,  before 
the  God  who  made  them,  and  surrounded  by  a  circle 
of  affectionate  friends,  who  are  all  to  be  drawn* 
nearer  together  by  these  new  cords  of  love,  who 
can  possibly  foretell  the  events  that  lie  in  their 
common  pathway  for  perhaps  fifty  years  in  advance ! 
How  many  changes  in  views,  in  conduct,  in  char- 
acter, may  a  brief  period  reveal  ?  The  poor  may 
become  rich,  or  the  rich  poor  ;  strength  may  change 
to  weakness,  health  to  disease,  and  cheerfulness  to 
fretful  repinings.  But  these  are  not  the  worst 
changes.  The  bright  morning  of  wedded  life, 
dawning  without  a  cloud,  and  with  the  cheerful  mel- 
ody of  nature's  sweetest  harmonies,  has  too  often, 
before  noon,  clouded  over  with  the  dark  shadows, 
through  which  even  hope  can  scarcely  look,  beneath 
whose  muttering  thunders  every  happy  song  is 
silenced,  and  from  which  the  setting  of  life's  sun  is 
often  a  relief.  How  often,  in  the  sad  experience 
of  many  a  happy  household,  has  Intemperance,  like 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  57 

the  subtle  serpent,  gliding  into  Paradise  for  the  ruin 
of  the  first  family  of  man,  entered  into  the  Eden 
where  youth  and  virtue  dwelt,  to  present  those  at- 
tractive and  dangerous  indulgences  that  have  no 
better  symbol  than  in  the  first  forbidden  tree.  But 
it  is  not  needful,  in  our  present  thoughts,  to  describe 
the  evils  that  do  sometimes  spring  up  in  earthly 
households,  that  cannot  be  wholly  anticipated  by 
the  wisest  foresight,  and  that  the  warmest  affection 
cannot  ward  off.  Justice  requires  us  to  say  that 
marriage  does  more  to  keep  such  evils  from  springing 
up,  and  to  repress  and  to  correct  them,  than 
any  other  influence  exerted  in  society.  But  when 
either  party  becomes  idle,  improvident,  or  vicious, 
there  is  the  same  duty  incumbent  upon  the  other 
party  to  forbear  with  them,  and  to  follow  them  with 
earnest  and  affectionate  efforts  to  reclaim  their  de- 
clining steps,  which  is  universally  recognized  as  the 
duty  of  parents  toward  erring  children.  How  deep 
is  the  grief  of  a  fond  father  and  a  tender  mother 
for  the  wanderings  of  a  beloved  son  !  How  long  do 
they  refuse  to  believe  the  proofs  of  guilt  that  are  too 
plain  for  other  eyes  !  what  sacrifices  of  time,  and 
money,  and  feelings  will  they  not  make,  while  there 
is  any  hope  of  reformation  !  how  kindly  do  they  in- 
terpret the  feeblest  kindlings  of  repentance  !  and 
how  thankfully  do  they  receive  the  returning  pro- 
digal to  their  warmest  embraces  !  But  the  relation 
of  husband  and  wife  is  more  close  and  tender  than 
that  of  parent  and  child.     These  parties  have  left 


58  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

their  parents  for  each  other :  and  it  is  the  natural 
order  of  Providence  that  their  children  shall  leave 
them,  and  then  thej  are  still  to  cleave  to  each  other. 
In  this  world  of  sin  this  tie  must  hold,  not  to  apol- 
oorize  for  sin,  or  to  make  a  common  cause  for  its 
promotion,  but  to  clog  the  footsteps  of  the  sinner, 
and  by  love's  strong  influences  to  draw  him  back, 
if  possible,  to  the  paths  of  virtue.  The  wilful, 
resolute,  irreparable  separation  of  one  party,  leaves 
the  other  free  to  seek  by  proper  means  a  dissolution 
of  the  bond :  especially  unfaithfulness  to  marriage 
engagements  is  a  just  ground  for  divorce  :  but  apart 
from  these  two  things,  the  covenant  of  marriage  is 
Dot  to  be  broken  by  any  calamities  providentially  oc- 
curring to  either,  by  any  misconduct  not  involving 
a  breach  of  the  marriage  law,  nor  by  any  difficulties 
between  the  parties,  the  most  numerous,  and  serious, 
and  onerous  to  bear.  As  a  man  cherishes  his  own 
body,  though  sometimes  his  flesh  becomes  feeble 
and  diseased,  and  even  loathsome,  because  it  is  his 
body,  so  must  these  parties  love  and  cherish  each 
other.  It  is  a  great  trust  which  one  human  being 
commits  to  another,  when  these  mutual  pledges  of 
lifelong  love  are  made. 

Many  may  feel  disposed  to  say,  as  even  the 
disciples  of  Christ  said  when  their  Lord  gave  just 
such  teachings,  "  If  the  case  of  a  man  be  so  with 
his  wife,  it  is  good  not  to  marry."  Matt.  xix.  10. 
But  a  juster  and  wiser  view  of  the  great  interests 
of  society,  and  of   the  actual  workings   of   Provi- 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  59 

dence,  will  vindicate  the  Divine  rule.     Facts  will 
prove  that  where  the  Divine  law   is   regarded,  the 
marriage  relation  is  usually  happy.     We  wonder  to 
see  the  changes  it  makes ;  transforming  the  timid, 
trifling,  volatile   girl  into   the   self-possessed,   dig- 
nified, useful  matron  ;  changing  the  pleasure-loving, 
reckless  man  into  the  provident,  thoughtful,  con- 
servative citizen.     And  it  is  so  important  for  the 
training  and  happiness  of  the  children,  for  the  com- 
fort and  usefulness  of  the  parties  themselves ;  and 
for  the  purity  and  well-being  of  society,  that  mar- 
riage should  be  indissoluble  ;  the  amount  of  wretch- 
edness that  must  come  in  upon  the  innocent  and  the 
guilty  in  every  case  of  separation  is  so  great ;  the 
cases  are  so  numerous  where  the  sacredness  of  the 
relation  tends  to  settle  the   difficulties   that   might 
otherwise  become  serious ;  the  cases  are  so  rare  in 
comparison  where  plausible  reasons  for  a  separation 
can  be  found,  that  the  only  safe  and  proper  ground 
for  the  relation   is   that   taken    in   the    Scriptures. 
If  to  consider    this  tie   as  indissoluble,   makes  it 
a  more  serious  thing  to  assume  the  vows   of   mar- 
riage ;  if  more  serious  thoughts  should  precede  en- 
gagements of  this  nature ;  if  a  more  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  each  other  should  be  thought  wise 
in  those  who  are  to  be  united  for  life ;  and  if  a  true 
affection  for  each  other  is  the  only  proper  basis  of 
such  a  union  ;  surely  these  tendencies  are  eminently 
for  the  good  of  the  parties  and  of  society.    We  may 


69  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

easily  judge  that  Divine  wisdom  designed  that  such 
influences  should  flow  from  his  ordinance. 

The  value  of  the  Scriptural  ordinance  of  mar- 
riage may  appear  from  the  virulence  with  which 
wickedness  has  opposed  and  perverted  it.  Human 
corruption  cannot  spread  widely  without  perverting 
marriage.  The  first  result  is  the  degradation  of  the 
female  sex ;  for  though  it  is  true,  that  woman  al- 
ways drags  man  down  with  her  when  she  falls,  it  is 
also  true  that  the  heaviest  curses  of  corruption  of 
manners  and  of  civil  misrule,  always  fall  on  her 
hapless  head.  The  condition  of  woman  in  all  lands 
where  the  Bible  is  not,  is  itself  a  sufiicient  vindica- 
tion that  a  kind  and  holy  God  has  given  man  these 
sacred  writings.  Well  might  the  Indian  women  of 
New  England,  two  hundred  years  ago,  look  upon 
John  Elliot  as  almost  an  angel ;  and  the  Cafi"res  of 
South  Africa  call  the  missionary  ''  The  shield  of 
woman."  "Really,"  said  a  Hindoo  female  recently 
to  a  Christian  lady,  "your  Bible  must  have  been 
written  by  a  woman,  it  contains  so  many  kind 
things  about  us ;  our  Shasters  say  nothing  of  us  but 
what  is  hard  and  cruel."*  Except  Christianity, 
every  system  of  religion  on  earth  degrades  and  op- 
presses the  female  sex.  Paganism  makes  woman 
the  slave  of  her  husband  while  he  lives,  and  stran- 
gles her,  or  burns  her,  or  makes  her  an  outcast 
when  he  dies.  Buddhism,  Mahommedanism,  and 
Hindooism  deny  that  she  has  a  soul,  and  pronounce 
*  Foreign  Missionary,  22,  388. 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  61 

her  irreckimablj  wicked.  Talmudlc  Judaism,  when 
not  placed  in  contact  with  Christianity,  leaves  her 
without  instruction;*  and  subtle  Infidelity,  with  the 
grossest  flattery  of  the  sex,  and  the  avowed  advo- 
cacy of  Woman's  Rights,  always  unsexes,  degrades, 
and  demoralizes  her.  Take  the  world  at  large,  and 
the  bondage  of  woman,  except  the  prevalence  of  ir- 
religion  from  which  it  springs,  is  by  far  the  worst 
social  evil  of  the  race.  The  Bible  alone  exerts  an 
influence  to  make  woman  truly  free ;  raises  her  from 
her  degradation  ;  speaks  words  of  kindness  in  all 
her  trials,  and  in  the  hour  of  her  deepest  bereave- 
ment cheers  her  eyes  with  the  precious  promises, 
that  in  all  its  pages  speak  of  the  widow's  God,  as 
the  stars  of  heaven  shine,  numerous  and  bright, 
when  darkness  covers  the  earth. 

Well  may  the  women  of  Christian  lands  fill  our 
churches  and  rally  around  the  Bible.  They  owe  to 
it  their  temporal  comforts  as  well  as  their  religious 
hopes.  Well  may  they  suspect  any  flattering  talk 
about  their  rights,  which  places  them  in  any  other 
position  than  that  assigned  to  them  in  the  Bible. 
Let  them  know  all  this  talk,  from  the  pernicious 
fruits  of  infidelity  and  licentiousness  which  it  early 
and  surely  brings  forth.  The  women  of  Christian 
lands  have  nothing  to  hope  from  infidelity.  And 
for  the  well-being  of  all  society,  as  well  as  for  the 
special  welfare  of  the  female  sex,  it  is  a  matter  of 
vital  importance  that  the  ordinance  of  marriage  be 
*  Miss.  Herald,  1850,  146. 


62  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

maintained  as  God  gave  it  to  Adam  in  Paradise, 
and  as  it  is  explained  upon  the  subsequent  pages  of 
the  sacred  volume.  We  should  regard  these  as 
crying  and  pernicious  evils  of  our  times :  that  the 
peace  of  families  is  held  in  too  low  estimate ;  that 
diiferences  which  should  be  settled  in  the  household 
are  so  easily  magnified,  and  so  readily  given  to  the 
public  ear ;  that  so  many  instances  of  desertion  and  of 
unfaithfulness  to  marriage  vows  are  given  with  all 
their  loathsome  details  in  the  public  prints ;  and, 
worse  than  all,  that  our  legislators  and  our  courts 
of  law  lend  their  influence,  too  often,  to  demoralize 
the  country,  by  their  lenient  judgments  upon  licen- 
tious crimes,  and  especially  by  the  facility  with 
which  divorces  are  decreed  without  the  semblance 
of  a  fair  investigation,  and  for  the  most  frivolous 
reasons.  Nor  should  we  omit  to  say,  that  these 
things  are  made  worse  by  the  thoughtlessness  of 
people,  who,  in  their  serious  moments,  know  better 
and  feel  better.  These  allow  themselves  to  speak 
too  freely  of  other  families ;  to  talk  too  lightly  of 
the  remedies  which  aggrieved  parties  should  seek, 
and  to  express  a  confident  and  mischievous  judg- 
ment in  cases  with  which  they  have  but  a  slight  and 
partial  acquaintance. 

Happy  is  the  people  when  the  ordinance  of  mar- 
riage is  maintained  as  God  gave  it  to  our  first  pa- 
rents. Happy  is  the  married  pair  who  are  joined 
with  the  approbation  and  blessing  of  the  almighty 
God;  who  love  each  other  as  their  ownselves ;  and 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  G3 

who,  in  the  beautiful  figure  of  one  of  Burns's  Scot- 
tish songs,  climb  life's  hill  in  company ;  press  hand 
in  hand  down  its  further  slope,  and  sleep  together 
at  the  foot.  Many  eventful  scenes  will,  indeed,  oc- 
cur between  the  starting  and  the  resting  spot ;  per- 
haps a  separating  hour  comes  early,  and  one  is  left 
to  pass  onward  in  life  alone.  We  know  not  how 
this  was  with  Adam ;  for  the  length  of  Eve's  life  is 
not  recorded.  But  we  are  led  to  infer  that  they 
grew  old  together,  and  saw  the  increase  of  their 
children  around  them.  We  can  know  some  of  their 
griefs  and  some  of  their  joys.  The  patrimony  of 
their  Father  they  soon  lost ;  and  bankrupt  in  cha- 
racter, and  bankrupt  in  fortunes,  they  went  forth 
from  that  delightful  garden  to  toil  in  a  world  which 
their  sin  had  cursed.  What  sorrows  had  they  in 
the  murder  of  one  child  by  the  hand  of  another ! 
what  mingled  grief  and  joy  in  their  own  sins  as 
contrasted  with  the  tokens  of  Divine  forgiveness ; 
in  the  piety  of  Abel,  and  in  the  impiety  of  Cain  ! 
Life  passed  with  them,  as  it  passes  with  their  child- 
ren, with  all  its  varieties  of  care  and  comfort,  of 
peace  and  perplexity,  of  hope  and  fear. 

Supposing  that  they  grew  old  together,  what  a 
life  was  theirs  !  The  first  married  pair  started  life 
together,  and  spent  nearly  nine  centuries  and  a  half 
in  their  companionship.  What  a  patriarchal  scene ! 
How  much  must  they  have  grown  in  attachment  to 
each  other !  How  much  was  there  of  mutual  de- 
pendence ;  a  delightful  leaning  upon  each  other,  and 


64  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

deriving  their  happiness  from  each  other  !  And 
from  the  days  of  their  declining  age  to  this,  earth 
has  no  more  venerable  sight  than  is  presented  by  an 
aged  couple,  who  have  gone  through  life  together, 
have  settled  their  children  in  the  earth,  and  draw 
near  the  end  of  their  days  with  the  respect  and  love 
of  all  that  know  them. 

Yet  this  one  thing  is  needful  to  complete  the  pic- 
ture: that  they  have  trained  up  a  godly  household; 
that  they  have  sent  forth  their  children  to  bless  the 
land;  and  that  having  served  God  and  their  genera- 
tion here,  they  are  only  waiting  for  his  summons  to 
depart  to  that  better  country,  where,  indeed,  *' there 
is  neither  marrying  nor  giving  in  marriage,"  but 
where  love  shall  abide  for  ever,  and  separations 
never  be  known. 

Only  waiting  till  the  shadows 

Fall  a  little  longer  ; 
Waiting  while  their  hopes  of  heaven 
-  Firmer  grow,  and  stronger ; 
Watching,  as  the  tabernacle 

Of  this  flesh  is  falling ; 
Judging  each  new  imperfection 

Is  their  Father  calling. 

Trusting,  that  through  death's  cold  river, 

Christ  their  Lord  will  guide  them ; 
Praying  that  its  narrow  waters 

May  not  long  divide  them. 
Lingering  thus,  to  earth  and  heaven 

Warm  aflections  bind  them  ; 
Hoping  blessings,  leaving  blessings, 

For  the  loved  behind  ihem. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  65 

Blessed  is  the  land  whose  children  are  joined  in 
these  sacred  and  permanent  ties,  and  where  right- 
eous parents  train  up  their  households  in  the  fear 
or  God,  and  in  a  blessed  looking  for  immortality. 
The  hopes  of  our  country  largely  rest  on  the  pure 
and  pious  maintenance  of  the  family  relation,  as 
God  formed  it  in  Paradise.  Depart  in  any  measure 
from  this ;  let  the  tie  of  marriage  be  thoughtlessly 
formed,  or  thoughts  of  its  dissolution  be  readily  en- 
tertained, or  separations  be  esteemed  reputable ;  and 
woe  to  the  parties,  to  their  offspring,  and  to  society  ! 
A  mutual  lifelong  interest  in  their  children,  de- 
mands that  parents  should  have  a  lifelong  interest 
in  each  other.  And  it  is  chiefly  because  the  child- 
ren of  the  human  family  need  a  moral  training  ex- 
tending through  twenty  years,  and  because  this  usu- 
ally determines  the  character  for  our  everlasting 
existence,  that  this  ordinance  is  so  divinely  ap- 
pointed. The  Lord  seeks  a  godly  seed ;  that  is,  the 
family,  as  he  has  formed  it,  is  a  religious  institution ; 
and  fearful  guilt  belongs  to  those  who  venture  to 
pervert  it  from  this  design.  And  they  who  form 
their  families  after  the  Divine  design,  may  hope  for 
even  a  greater  permanence  than  belongs  to  a  life- 
long covenant.  The  most  precious  hope  for  a  family 
is  in  these  things :  that  its  members  are  fitted  for 
God's  service  here  and  hereafter;  that  his  favour  is 
chiefly  sought  in  all  they  do  and  are ;  that  the  sepa- 
rations that  must  occur  will  be  only  for  a  little 
6  * 


66  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

season  ;  and  that,  not  long  hence,  the  whole  family 
shall  meet  together  around  the  throne  of  God. 

There  is  a  coming  day  when  no  remembered 
scenes  of  our  earthly  homes  will  be  recalled  with 
more  pleasure  than  that  described  in  the  familiar 
verse  of  Burns  : 

*'  Then  kneeling  down  to  heaven's  eternal  King, 
The  saint,  the  father,  and  the  husband  prays ; 
Hope  springs  exulting  on  triumphant  wing, 
That  thus  they  all  shall  meet  in  future  days, 
There  ever  bask  in  uncreated  rays, 
No  more  to  sigh  or  shed  the  bitter  tear, 

Together  hymning  their  Creator's  praise, 
In  such  society,  yet  still  more  dear, 
"While  circling  time  moves  round  in  an  eternal  sphere." 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  67 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  PERPETUITY  OF  THE  SABBATH. 

"  Hail  to  the  day,  which  He  who  made  the  heaven, 
Earth,  and  their  armies,  sanctified  and  blest, 
Perpetual  memory  of  the  Maker's  rest! 
Hail  to  the  day,  when  He,  by  whom  was  given 
New  life  to  man,  the  tomb  asunder  riven. 
Arose!     That  day  his  church  hath  still  confest, 
At  once  Creation's  and  Kedemption's  feast, 
Sign  of  a  world  called  forth,  a  world  forgiven." 

Bp.  Mant. 

The  institution  of  the  Sabbath  is  another  of  the 
ordinances  of  Eden.  Mention  is  made  of  it  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis ;  and  the  second  chapter  is 
a  summary  of  the  first.  Doubtless  Eve  was  created 
upon  the  same  sixth  day  with  Adam ;  and  the  next 
day  was  the  first  Sabbath.  These  two  institutions 
of  man's  innocence, — marriage  and  the  Sabbath, — 
were  designed  to  be  perpetual  for  the  race.  Men 
make  a  great  mistake  when  they  allow  themselves 
to  think  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  Jewish  institution.  It 
is  not  so  in  any  just  sense  of  the  term.  Doubtless 
Moses  adopted  for  the  Jews,  by  Divine  direction, 
many  laws  which  had  been  in  use  previously  and 


68  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

elsewhere ;  and  lie  sometimes  made  changes  in 
these,  adapting  them  to  the  Jewish  people.  So  the 
Jews  had  several  kinds  of  Sabbaths ;  as  every  sev- 
enth year  was  a  Sabbatical  year,  and  every  seven 
times  seven  was  succeeded  by  a  year  of  Jubilee : 
and  the  penalties  for  Sabbath  desecration  were  pe- 
culiarly Jewish.  But  the  weekly  Sabbath  itself  was 
not  founded  by  Moses :  it  was  in  existence  twenty- 
five  hundred  years  before  his  day :  and  when  the 
law  was  given  on  Sinai,  the  fourth  commandment 
expressly  recognized  the  Sabbath  as  an  existing  and 
ancient  institution.  In  terms  that  commandment 
does  not  enact  a  Sabbath ;  but  it  enjoins  that  men 
should  "remember"  that  a  Sabbath  already  existed ; 
and  that  God  instituted  it,  when  he  rested  from  the 
work  of  creation.  To  abolish  the  ceremonial  law 
of  Moses  and  the  entire  Jewish  church  state,  does 
not  abolish  the  Sabbath,  or  impair  its  authority. 
As  it  was  given  to  Adam  in  Paradise,  it  was  plainly 
designed  for  all  his  children ;  nor  are  there  any  ar- 
guments to  make  the  Sabbath  binding  upon  any 
body  or  any  age,  that  do  not  establish  its  value, 
propriety,  and  authority  for  all  the  sons  of  men 
and  in  every  age. 

The  institution  of  the  Sabbath  for  man,  while  he 
was  in  his  estate  of  innocence,  afi'ords  us  a  reason- 
able proof  of  its  perpetual  obligation.  Every  one 
can  see  that  if  marriage  w^as  necessary  to  man  un- 
fallen,  for  the  preservation,  purity,  and  comfort  of 
the  race,  its  importance  and  necessity  were  only  in- 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  69 

creased  Tvlien  man  became  a  sinner.  True  reason- 
ing would  urge  that  the  more  man  became  corrupt, 
the  more  he  rebelled  against  the  law  of  marriage, 
the  greater  was  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the 
law.  The  sinfulness  of  man  makes  the  law  of  mar- 
riage more  needful,  at  the  same  time  that  it  makes 
it  more  difficult  to  retain  it  in  all  its  strictness. 
And  so  may  we  reason  of  the  Sabbath-day.  If 
sinless  man  needed  one  day  in  seven  that  he  might 
cease  his  usual  employments,  and  find  time  to  wor- 
ship God  without  distraction,  how  much  more  are 
the  rest  and  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  necessary  for 
sinful  man  !  It  is  not  strange  that  nothing  is  said 
of  the  Sabbath  from  this  time  forward  until  the 
time  of  the  going  forth  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt ; 
for  the  history  of  two  thousand  years  is  put  within 
the  brief  compass  of  a  few  chapters.  Yet  we  find 
Noah,  Jacob,  and  Laban  observing  the  week  as  a 
division  of  time ;  and  the  Israelites  gathering  double 
manna  on  the  sixth  day,  and  finding  none  on  the 
seventh ;  and  commanded  to  observe  the  Sabbath 
even  before  they  came  to  Mount  Sinai ;  all  which 
are  indications  that  though  the  Sabbath  may  have 
been  laxly  kept,  as  marriage  degenerated  into  poly- 
gamy, still  it  was  known  through  all  the  inter- 
vening period  between  Adam  and  Moses.  When 
therefore  we  find  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  written  in 
the  midst  of  the  ten  commandments,  just  in  the 
place  where  we  w^ould  expect  to  find  it  if  God  de- 
signed it  to  be  of  perpetual  obligation ;  when  we 


70  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

see  that  no  precept  that  belongs  peculiarly  to  the 
Jewish  dispensation  received  any  such  distinction ; 
when  we  know  that  God  wrote  it  twice  in  the  moral 
law,  and  that  Moses  has  recorded  it  twice  in  his 
writings,  and  .that  the  reasons  there  given  for  its 
observance  are  drawn  from  the  creation  as  suitable 
to  all  men,  and  not  as  elsewhere  from  the  redemp- 
tion from  Egypt  as  suitable  peculiarly  to  Israel  ;* 
and  when  we  can  easily  see  that  the  Sabbath  is  as 
needful  and  suitable  for  every  land  and  every  age 
as  for  any  time  or  any  people,  we  seem  to  find  in 
all  these  things,  reasons  for  regarding  it  as  of  per- 
petual obligation. 

And  the  proof  is  far  more  conclusive  as  we  pass 
to  notice  other  things.  We  read  in  the  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  (Ivi.  6,  8),  that  God  promises  large 
blessings  to  the  strangers  from  all  nations  that 
should  join  themselves  to  the  Lord  and  keep  his 
Sabbaths.  As  the  Gentiles  were  not  called  into  the 
Church  until  after  the  dawning  of  the  Christian 
dispensation,  the  prophet  must  mean  that  the  Sab- 
bath was  still  to  be  a  Divine  institution,  and  still 
to  be  kept  holy,  and  still  to  be  a  blessing  to  those 
who  kept  it,  after  the  time  of  the  calling  of  the 
Gentiles.  So  we  read  that  our  blessed  Lord,  who 
vindicated  the  Sabbath  from  Pharisaical  notions 
that  forbade  works  of  mercy  on  that  day,  still 
teaches  us  that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  for 
the  race,  everywhere  and  always ;  and  speaks  of  it 
^  Compare  Ex.  xx.   11,  with  Deut.  v.   15. 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  71 

as  obligatory,  even  after  the  setting  np  of  the 
Christian  Church.  Matt.  xxiv.  20.  And  when  we 
find  the  disciples  of  Christ  assembling  for  worship 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  calling  it  the  Lord's 
day,  and  transmitting  it  to  the  Christian  Church  to 
be  observed  ever  since,  in  memory  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  the  proof  seems  complete  that  God 
designed  to  give  the  Sabbath  to  man  as  an  ordinance 
of  perpetual  obligation. 

And  it  is  a  very  great  mistake  for  any  man  to 
suppose  that  the  change  of  the  day  from  the  seventh 
to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  invalidates,  in  any  de- 
gree, the  claims  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  The 
very  reverse  is  true.  The  change  of  day  is  a  cer- 
tain proof  that  the  institution  remains  in  perpetuity. 
For  if  the  Sabbath  had  remained  for  the  Christian 
Church  upon  the  same  day  that  had  been  kept  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  the  objection  would  at 
once  arise  that  the  Christians  had  adopted  it  merely 
through  the  force  of  their  old  prejudices.  It 
would  surely  be  called  a  Jewish  ceremony  trans- 
ferred to  the  Christian  Church.  If  we  consider  the 
circumstances  of  the  early  Christian  Church — com- 
posed so  largely  of  converts  who  had  been  educated 
in  all  the  forms  of  Judaism,  who  re«i;arded  the  Mo- 
saic  law  as  of  Divine  original,  and  who  clung  so 
closely  to  all  of  their  former  faith  which  they  could 
possibly  retain — we  may  easily  decide  that  the 
apostles  could  have  abolished  the  Sabbath  altogether 
with  more  ease  than  they  could  retain  the  institu- 


72  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

tion  and  change  the  day.  If  they  had  said  that 
the  Sabbath  was  to  be  done  away  with  entirely — 
like  their  types  and  sacrifices — their  converts  might 
have  acquiesced.  But  in  a  few  instances  Chris- 
tianity gave  Judaism  something  in  exchange  for  the 
ordinances  it  took  away ;  and  in  every  such  case, 
the  very  reasons  for  the  exchange  would  serve  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  Church  to  the  institutions. 
The  altar,  the  priest,  the  type,  even  the  temple, 
must  pass  away;  for  Christ  has  come,  and  men  may 
now  everywhere  worship  the  Father.  The  Paschal 
Lamb  may  find  its  substitute  in  the  simple  supper 
of  our  Lord.  But  the  chief  substitutes  which 
Christianity  made  of  new  ordinances  for  those  ex- 
isting in  the  old  economy,  were  two ;  and  it  is  re- 
markable that  neither  of  them  was  established  by 
Moses,  but  both  belonged  to  the  previous  patriarchal 
dispensation. 

For  circumcision  was  substituted  baptism ;  this 
signifies  the  same  thing,  seals  the  same  covenant, 
pledges  the  same  spiritual  blessings,  is  applied  to 
the  same  subjects,  and  occupies  the  same  position.  If 
the  Jew  asked  the  reason  for  making  any  change 
when  the  same  things  were  meant,  reasons  were 
ready.  The  promised  seed  had  come ;  Abraham's 
race  needed  no  longer  to  be  distinguished ;  and  a 
Church  for  all  nations  needed  a  simpler  seal  of  the 
great  covenant.  For  the  seventh-day  Sabbath, 
Christianity  substituted  the  first-day  Sabbath ;  and 
the  sufiicient  reason  is,  the  Redemption  by  Christ 


ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES.  73 

is  a  greater  thing  to  be  commemorated  in  the 
Church  of  God  than  the  creation  of  the  world.  If 
circumcision  dates  back  to  Abraham,  the  Sabbath  is 
older  yet ;  and  Christianity  is  not  to  be  charged 
with  following  Jewish  laws,  if  it  substantially  retains 
them  both.  But  is  it  not  true  that  the  very  at- 
tempt to  change  the  Sabbath  from  one  day  to  an- 
other implies  the  intelligent  agitation  of  the  subject 
in  the  early  Christian  Church  ?  and  is  it  not  true 
that  the  successful  effort  to  make  the  change  is  proof 
that  they  acknowledged  the  authority  by  which  the 
change  was  made  ?  The  unquestionable  fact  that 
Christians  have  observed  the  first  day  of  the  week 
as  the  Christian  Sabbath,  is  entirely  inconsistent 
with  the  repeal  of  the  Sabbath  law,  when  the  insti- 
tutions of  Moses  were  abrogated.  The  change 
argues  perpetuity,  and  a  perpetuity  founded  upon 
an  intelligent  conviction  of  duty,  rather  than  upon 
a  formal  and  thoughtless  adoption  of  an  ancient 
prejudice. 

Add  to  all  these  thoughts  the  deeply  important 
argument  that  the  blessing  of  God  has  been  upon 
the  Christian  Sabbath ;  and  the  proof  is  complete 
to  show  that  its  obligation  is  universal  and  per- 
petual. 

God  long  ago  promised  that  when  his  house  had 
become  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  people,  he  would 
give  his  blessing  upon  all  that  would  keep  his  Sab- 
baths without  polluting  them.  Isa.  Ivi.  6 ;  this  pro- 


74  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

mise  lie  has  fulfilled.  A  Sabbath-keeping  people, 
or  family,  or  person,  is  blessed.  How  many  ruined 
men  trace  the  first  steps  of  their  downfall  to  Sab- 
bath-desecration !  How  many  have  found  instruc- 
tion, and  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  salvation, 
by  the  honouring  of  God's  Sabbath !  If  we  have 
evidence  of  God's  blessing  on  anything  earthly,-it 
is  upon  the  Sabbath. 

Now  it  is  no  fitting  reply  to  proofs  like  these, 
that  Paul  seems  to  argue  that  the  Sabbath  is  no 
longer  binding.  For  the  tenor  of  the  Apostle's  ar- 
guments confines  his  thoughts  to  the  ceremonial 
Sabbaths  of  the  Jewish  economy ;  to  refer  his  words 
to  the  w^eekly  Sabbath  would  place  him  in  contra- 
diction to  the  words  of  the  sacred  writings,  and  to 
his  own  practice,  so  as  Paul  never  is  found.  But 
the  single  and  sufficient  key  by  which  to  interpret 
his  language  may  be  found  in  this  conclusive  fact, 
that  the  church  did  not  understand  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  as  arguing  against  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  or  as  desiring  that  it  should  be 
abolished.  If — as  these  modern  interpreters  would 
allege — Paul  tried  to  break  down  the  Sabbath,  no 
man  that  ever  lived  could  have  exerted  a  greater 
influence  to  effect  such  an  object.  But  the  facts  are 
all  against  the  thought  that  he  made  any  such  at- 
tempt. The  Christian  church  retained  the  fourth 
commandment  in  her  decalogue  as  it  was  before ; 
used  the  Sabbath  for  the  worship   of  God ;  gave  a 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  75 

new  and  striking  sanction  to  the  day  bj  making  it 
commemorate  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  sent 
it  down  to  our  own  times  as  a  perpetual  proof  that 
neither  Paul  nor  any  other  inspired  writer  made 
any  efforts  to  effect  its  destruction. 


76  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    yill. 

NATURE,    DESIGN,    AND   DUTIES    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

"  Welcome  that  day,  the  day  of  holy  peace, 

The  Lord's  own  day !  to  man's  Creator  owed, 
And  man's  Redeemer ;  for  the  soul's  increase 

In  sanctity  and  sweet  repose  bestowed. 
Type  of  the  rest  when  sin  and  care  shall  cease, 
The  rest  remaining  for  the  loved  of  God!" 

Bp.  Mant. 

The  most  important  question  after  all,  especially 
in  the  times  in  which  we  live,  does  not  respect  the 
perpetuity  of  the  weekly  rest ;  but  the  nature,  and 
design,  and  obligations  of  the  day  as  a  Sabbath. 
No  thoughtful  mind  can  well  venture  to  question 
that  to  take  away  the  sacred  obligations  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  to  destroy  all  its  real  value.  The  enemies 
of  the  Sabbath  have  no  real  wish  that  this  day  of 
the  week  should  be  blotted  from  our  Calendar ;  nor 
wish  that  it  should  be  made  a  day  of  unremitting 
toil,  like  other  days  of  the  week.  If  the  question 
was  taken.  Shall  we  have  a  Sabbath  or  no  Sabbath? 
the  votes  for  its  entire  abolition  would  be  few  in- 
deed. Even  the  men  who  are  most  zealously  en- 
gaged in   active    efforts   for    Sabbath   desecration, 


ADAM    AND    niS    TIMES.  77 

would  start  back  from  the   consequences   of  taking 
awa}^  the  day,  and  of  making  it  like  the  other  days 
of  the  week.     The  busy  raih'oads  in  and  near  our 
large  cities ;  the  places  of   resprt  and  amusement ; 
the  saloons  and  the  drinking  houses,  find  the  Sab- 
bath  their   most  profitable   day:    and    these,   and 
thousands  with  them,  who  put  forth  every  exertion 
that  interest  and  a  hatred  to  religion  can  prompt, 
to  secure  the  most  abundant  Sabbath  desecration  on 
every  hand,  would  yet  not  touch  the  burden  with 
one  of  their  fingers,  if  the  question  was  purely  for 
the  abolition  of  the  Sabbath.      The  enemies  of  the 
Sabbath   do  not  meet  the   question  fairly.     They 
want  a  Sabbath,  but  they  wish  unbounded  license 
upon  it :  just   as  the  mass  of  ungodly  men  would 
prefer  a  church  that  had  no  strictness  of  doctrine, 
no   sternness  of   rebuke,  and  no  warnings   of   the 
wrath  to  come.     Yet   a  Sabbath  universally  dese- 
crated is  worse  than  none.     A   Sabbath  that   sets 
loose  the  population  of   the  land  for  recklessness, 
and  riot,  and  drunkenness  ;  a  Sabbath  without  Sab- 
bath instructions.  Sabbath  morals,  and  Sabbath  re- 
ligion;    a.  Sabbath    like    the    Sabbaths    of    Papal 
Europe,  is  such  a  day  as  must  totally  fail  to  secure 
any  good  end  that  belongs  to  the  ordinance  of  God 
in  Eden ;  and  as  must  tend  to   demoralize    rather 
than  to  bless  society.     Whether  the  opponents  of 
our  Sabbath  laws  see  this  end  or  not,  the  true  ten- 
dency of  Sabbath  desecration  is  to   strike  a  fatal 
blow   at   all  the  valuable  influences,  both  physical 


78  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

and  moral,  that  are  exerted  by  the  due  observance 
of  the  sacred  day. 

But  as  the  Sabbath  has  proved  itself  a  day  for 
perpetual  observance  by  its  continued  recognition 
among  all  nations  of  Christendom,  and  even  among 
those  who  retain  it  merely  as  a  holiday,  it  becomes 
us  to  inquire,  How  ought  it  to  be  spent  ?  As  mar- 
riage remains  every  where  upon  earth,  and  yet  from 
all  its  corrupted  forms  we  must  look  back  to  Para- 
dise to  find  its  true  law  ;  so  let  the  original  and 
authoritative  ordinations  teach  us  the  true  law  of 
the  Sabbath.  If  it  binds  now,  it  binds  for  the  same 
purposes  and  designs  as  ever.  It  still  remains  the 
Sabbath ;  and  as  it  has  its  place,  so  it  has  its  claims 
and  character  in  the  fourth  commandment :  while 
its  just  interpretation  is  to  be  found  in  all  that  is 
said  of  it  in  the  word  of  God. 

The  Sabbath  to  Adam  in  Eden  was  a  rest  from 
the  ordinary  occupations  of  other  days.  And 
surely,  since  the  fall  of  man  and  the  more  burden- 
some labour  that  pertains  to  our  present  estate,  the 
claims  of  such  a  day  are  incomparably  greater,  as 
a  needful  rest  from  the  severity  of  incessant  toil. 
And  the  argument  is  complete  which  proves,  from 
the  physical  necessities  of  man  and  beast,  that  such 
a  day  is  needful  for  the  health  and  life,  as  well  as 
the  comfort  of  God's  creatures.  If  there  is  any 
difference  between  our  own  age  and  others,  it  may 
justly  be  affirmed  that  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath  was 
never  before  so  necessary  as  it  is  now,  and  shall  al- 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  79 

ways  hereafter  be,  since  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery to  do  the  work  of  man.  For  the  man  whose 
daily  Labours  require  him  to  keep  pace  with  the 
working  of  a  steam  engine,  and  to  match  his  muscles 
with  its  untiring  sinews,  must  toil  with  a  watchful- 
ness and  a  regularity  hitherto  unknown  in  all  the 
labours  of  the  race.  And  it  is  plain  to  every  in- 
telligent observer,  that  the  energy  and  industry  of 
our  style  of  civilization  must  demand  for  the  good 
of  mind  and  body  a  cessation  from  these  wearing 
toils,  that  is  greatly  more  imperative  than  under  any 
other  form  of  human  life.  The  truth  is,  we  need 
this  regular  weekly  rest  more  than  man  ever  needed 
it  before ;  and  the  prospect  is,  that  as  the  race  ad- 
vances, man  may  look  up  with  increasing  thankful- 
ness to  God,  for  this  institution  of  Paradise.  Es- 
pecially may  toiling  men  thank  God  for  the  Sab- 
bath. The  poet  is  right  with  all  his  emphasis  as  he 
sings  : 

*'  Hail,  Sabtath  !  thee  I  hail,  the  poor  man's  day  ! 
For  on  this  day,  embosomed  in  his  home, 
He  shares  the  frugal  meal  with  those  he  loves ; 
With  those  he  loves  he  shares  the  heartfelt  joy 
Of  giving  thanks  to  God — not  thanks  of  form    - 
A  word  and  a  grimace,  but  reverently, 
"With  covered  face  and  upward,  earnest  eye."* 

In  the  happy  land  where  we  live,  we  hardly  know 
what  a  poor  man  is ;  and  descriptions  of  poverty  in 
other  lands  are  inapplicable  here.     Among  us,  dis- 
*  Grruhame. 


80  ADAM   AND   HIS    TIMES. 

tinctions  of  rank  are  unknown  —  distinctions  of 
wealth  are  scarcely  recognized.  Health  and  energy 
have  hitherto  sufficed  among  us  to  secure  a  liveli- 
hood above  a  competence ;  and  even  in  what  we 
call  "hard  times,"  the  miserable  dependence  and 
the  unceasing  toil  of  the  poor  in  the  crowded  popu- 
lations of  Europe  and  Asia  are  unknown.  Yet 
many  things  prove  that  things  are  even  now  chang- 
ing in  this  respect.  We  have  more  poor  than  for- 
merly ;  and  the  toil  and  energy  necessary  to  secure 
a  livelihood  are  greater  than  before ;  and  there  are 
more  in  our  communities  than  there  used  to  be,  who 
secure  employment  with  difficulty.  And  should 
things  grow  worse  in  this  direction,  should  we  ever 
have  here  the  ceaseless  struggle  for  life  and  bread 
that  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  poor  in  eastern  lands,  we 
shall  know,  as  we  have  never  yet  known,  what  it  is 
for  the  poor  to  be  in  the  power  of  the  rich ;  and 
what  a  blessing  God  provided  for  the  poor  when  in 
the  garden  of  Eden  he  appointed  the  rest  of  the 
Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  is  needed,  will  be  more  and 
more  needed  in  this  toiling  world.  The  busy  popu- 
lation of  these  growing  states  are  the  last  that,  for 
their  own  sakes,  dare  trample  upon  it ;  and  now  is 
the  time  to  fix  the  habits  of  this  nation  as  a  Sab- 
bath-keeping people.  Let  the  working  men  of 
America  engage  in  such  pleasure  of  Sabbath-dese- 
cration as  must  lay  the  burden  of  toil  upon  some  of 
their  own  brethren,  and  ere  long  they  Avill  bring  the 
curse  of  unceasing  toil  upon  themselves.     Let  our 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  81 

working  men  consent  to  labour  upon  the  Sabbath 
for  any  set  of  masters,  and  they  not  only  make 
slaves  of  themselves,  but  they  prepare  heavier  chains 
of  bondage  for  their  children,  which,  unless  through 
the  preventing  mercy  of  a  long  suffering  God,  will 
weigh  them  down  to  the  dust.  Let  the  Sabbath 
of  our  fathers  be  given  unimpaired  to  our  children ! 

The  truth  is,  the  Sabbath  and  marriage  are  twin 
institutions ;  like  Adam  and  Eve,  both  created  in 
Eden,  designed  to  live  together,  designed  to  support 
each  other,  and  joined  by  God  himself  in  bonds 
which  no  man  should  sunder.  The  toil  of  the  week 
necessarily  separates  the  husband  from  the  wife,  the 
parent  from  the  child.  If  every  day  was  a  day  of 
toil,  some  men  would  scarcely  snatch  an  hour  of  do- 
mestic enjoyment ;  and  the  instruction  of  their 
children  would  seem  scarcely  a  part  of  the  duty  de- 
volving upon  parents.  The  Sabbath  is  designed  to 
further  the  ends  not  only  of  individual  improvement, 
but  of  family  benefit  and  comfort ;  and  its  hours 
are  to  be  used  accordingly.  Nor  is  it  any  objection 
to  this  view,  that  so  many  disregard  this  influence 
of  Sabbath  hours.  For  we  fearlessly  challenge  in- 
vestigation when  we  allege,  that  no  families  are 
happier,  or  better  trained,  or  more  prosperous,  than 
those  in  which  the  Sabbath  is  most  carefully  kept. 

The  Sabbath  is  most  important  in  its  influence 
upon  the  Family;  and  let  men  keep  the  Sabbath  in 
such  a  way  as  to  promote  the  advantage  of  all  the 
families  of  man,  and  its  other  duties  would  scarcely 


82  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

be  left  undone.  For  if  I  must  be  with  my  family, 
tben  I  ouglit  not  to  keep  my  neighbour  away  from 
his ;  and  if  every  family  aimed  to  spend  the  Sab- 
bath for  the  comfort  and  profit  of  the  household, 
not  only  would  all  needless  labour  cease,  but  man 
would  learn  his  great  duties  as  a  reasonable  and  an 
immortal  creature.  And  it  ought  to  be  observed  in 
support  of  these  views  that  the  fourth  command- 
ment is  specially  addressed  to  heads  of  families ; 
and  they  are  directed  not  only  to  keep  holy  the 
Sabbath,  but  to  take  care  that  it  is  so  kept  by  all 
within  their  doors,  whether  children,  or  servants, 
or  strangers.  Richard  Baxter  is  reported  as  saying, 
that  when  parents  do  their  duty  by  their  children, 
the  conversion  of  souls  will  seldom  take  place  in  the 
sanctuary.  The  children  will  be  brought  to  God 
while  still  under  the  parental  roof.  Happy  day 
when  every  family  shall  be  truly  a  nursery  whence 
the  plants  of  grace  shall  be  brought  to  fill  up  the 
Church  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  Give  us  a 
Sabbath  in  every  family — as  God  gave  the  Sabbath 
and  the  fjimily  together  in  Paradise — and  the  morn- 
ing star  of  that  dawn  will  rise. 

For  the  Sabbath  is  not  only  a  day  of  rest.  If 
we  have  it  now  in  perpetuity,  why  should  we  not 
have  it  as  it  Avas  in  the  beginning !  When  God  gave 
a  Sabbath,  he  sanctified  it ;  when  he  repeated  it  in 
the  moral  law,  he  enjoined  that  it  should  be  kept 
holy.  The  Sabbath  is  a  religious  day.  As  God 
gave  it  to  Adam  in  his  estate  of  innocence,  this  was 


ADAM    AND    IIIS    TIMES.  83 

its  chief  design.  Rest  from  labour  he  needed  loss 
than  man  has  ever  needed  it  since  ;  for  the  toil  of 
a  curse-stricken  earth  did  not  yet  lay  its  burdens 
upon  him.  If  any  living  man  ever  could  refuse  to 
sanctify  a  Sabbath  because  every  day  was  holy, 
Adam  might  well  say  this;  and  yet  in  a  life  that 
knew  no  sin,  he  needed  a  day  when  his  ordinary 
employments  must  be  laid  aside,  and  the  whole  time 
be  spent  in  religious  duties.  And  it  is  not  a  hard 
thing  to  understand  that  the  physical  rest  which 
the  sacred  day  now  gives  to  the  sons  of  toil,  is  not 
at  all  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  this  day,  as 
lioly  to  the  service  of  God.  A  true  rest  for  the 
mind  and  for  the  body  is  better  secured,  because 
these  separated  hours  may  not  be  spent  in  the  active 
pursuit  of  folly  and  pleasure.  No  men  appreciate 
or  improve  more  the  Sabbatli,  as  a  day  of  rest,  than 
those  who  spend  it  most  carefully  as  a  religious  day. 
Many  spend  tlicse  hours  in  seeking  their  own  pleas- 
ure, whicli  God's  word  expressly  forbids;  and  they 
often  show  the  result  of  this,  by  being  more  unfit 
for  their  usual  duties  upon  Monday  morning  than 
at  any  other  time  in  the  week.  Let  the  Sabbath  be 
kept  according  to  its  own  nature,  and  the  design  of 
its  institution.  God  has  blessed  the  day  as  one  to 
be  kept  holy ;  and  happy  is  the  man  who  observes 
it  accordingly. 

There  is  scarcely  any  more  important  question  to 
be  settled  in  this  land  than  that  which  pertains  to 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  in  our  communities. 


84  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

It  is  impossible  that  the  government  of  a  free  people 
can  be  maintained  on  this  great  continent,  unless  a 
substantial  basis  is  laid  in  the  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  our  citizens.  And  it  is  certainly  true  that  the 
educational  interests  of  this  land  have  been  chiefly 
promoted  by  Sabbath-loving  and  Sabbath-keeping 
men.  And  the  Sabbath  is  the  chief  safeguard  of 
virtue  for  this  people.  To  its  influence  Tve  owe  all 
the  diff"erence  that  exists  between  us  and  the  nations 
of  Europe,  who  are  now  sending  in  upon  our  shores 
so  many  vices ;  and  the  cause  of  them  all  in  an  utter 
disavowal  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath.  Break 
down  the  Sabbath,  and  all  that  is  valuable  in  re- 
ligion must  be  broken  down  with  it.  Only  one  na- 
tion of  Europe  ever  ventured  formally  to  blot  the 
sacred  day  from  existence  ;  and  the  results  are  so 
horrible  that  the  nations  shut  their  ears  at  the 
dreadful  cry,  and  trembled  as  they  gazed.  Yet 
before  that  reign  of  terror,  France  had  only  the 
semblance  of  a  Sabbath.  If  even  that  could  not  be 
thrown  ofi"  without  such  scenes  of  anarchy  and 
bloodshed,  as  the  just  judgments  of  God  upon  a 
nation  mad  in  infidelity,  no  mind  can  conceive  the 
fearful  consequences  which  would  follow  the  down- 
fall of  such  a  Sabbath  as  these  States  have  had 
since  their  settlement.  Let  every  patriot,  out  of 
regard  for  the  well  being  of  his  country,  stand  by 
the  Sabbath.  Every  year  proves  that  we  need  it 
more  than  ever,  and  just  in  proportion  as  its  ene- 
mies become  bold,   and  as  Sabbath  desecration  in- 


ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES.  S5 

creases,  do  we  learn  on  every  hand  that  crimes  of 
every  kind  and  grade  are  on  the  increase.  The 
downfall  of  the  Sabbath  would  be  the  Jubilee  of 
e\ii. 

As  the  Sabbath  began  in  the  earthlv  Eden,  so  it 
is  a  type  of  the  heavenly  Paradise.  Heaven  itself 
is  called  a  Sabbatism — a  rest  that  remaineth  for  the 
people  of  God.  They  who  love  and  keep  these 
hours  of  sacred  time  most  cheerfully,  keep  in  mind 
also  the  rest  beyond. 

•'  Thine  earthly  Sabhaths,  Lord,  we  love. 
But  there's  a  nobler  rest  ab<:<ve; 
To  that  our  longing  souls  aspire 
"SN'ith  ardent  hope  and  strong  desire." 

Truly  blessed  are  they  who  by  the  rest  of  God 
on  earth  are  fitted  to  enter  upon  the  songs  and  joys 
of  that  unending  Sabbath. 

Our  great  English  poet  has  made  us  familiar  with 
two  important  themes  :  Paradise  Lost,  and  Paradise 
Regained.  In  the  Paradise  which  our  first  father 
lost,  God  instituted  the  family  and  the  Sabbath. 
When  men  are  wise  enough  to  keep  both  these  or- 
dinances according  to  their  original  appointment, 
they  are  ever  found  among  the  most  efficient  means 
through  which,  by  Divine  grace,  we  may  regain  the 
better  Paradise. 
8 


8G  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ORIGIN   OF   EVIL. 

"History  not  wanted  yet, 
Leaned  on  her  elbow,  watching  Time,  whose  course, 
Eventful,  should  supply  her  with  a  theme." 

COWPER. 

The  father  of  profane  history  informs  us  that  he 
saw  in  Egypt  an  architectural  wonder  more  sur- 
prising than  the  pyramids.  This  was  their  famous 
Labyrinth,  built  on  the  Lake  Moeris ;  a  magnificent 
pile  of  twelve  palaces  communicating  with  each 
other,  having  three  thousand  rooms,  interspersed 
with  terraces,  half  above  ground  and  half  below, 
having  no  apparent  outlet.  The  rooms,  and  passages, 
and  columns,  were  so  numerous,  and  so  similar  to 
each  other,  that  no  stranger,  once  introduced,  could 
find  his  way  out  without  a  guide.  Hence,  in  com- 
mon language,  a  labyrinth  is  a  difficulty  that  cannot 
be  explained,  a  confused  mass  of  things  hard  to 
disentangle. 

Virgil  narrates  that  Daedalus,  the  architect  of  a 
similar  labyrinth  in  Crete,  taught  Theseus  how  to 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  87 

find  his  way  out,  by  unwinding  a  thread  as  he  went 
in,  and  making  it  his  guide  upon  his  return.  =^ 

It  would  be  a  very  easy  thing  for  us  to  lose  our 
way  at  this  point  of  the  history  of  our  first  father, 
in  a  more  perplexing  labyrinth  than  Greece  or 
Egypt  ever  constructed.  Here  comes  before  us  one 
of  the  most  difficult  and  profound  subjects  of  human 
thought ;  here  indeed  is  a  labyrinth  where  many 
have  wandered,  seeking  in  vain  to  find  a  solution. 
How  did  sin  find  entrance  to  the  heart  of  a  holy 
being  ?  Rather,  how  could  it  find  existence  in  the 
dominions  of  a  holy,  just,  omniscient,  and  omnipo- 
tent God  ?  This  indeed  is  evidently  not  its  first 
entrance.  For  the  sin  of  man  was  through  a 
tempter,  who,  before  this,  had  sinned  against  the 
Creator.  But  how  did  sin  find  entrance  into  a  holy 
world  ?  is  a  question  that  naturally  arises  as  we 
read  of  man's  first  disobedience. 

Some  boldly  affirm  that  God  is  himself  the  Au- 
thor of  sin.  They  argue,  that  so  vast  is  his  know- 
ledge, so  unbounded  his  resources,  so  complete  his 
power,  that  so  entirely  do  creatures  live,  and  move, 
and  have  their  being  in  him,  that  the  creature  is  no- 
thing and  God  is  everything.  But  this  is  certainly 
not  the  thread  to  lead  us  safely  forth  from  these 
tangled  mazes.  We  may  agree  with  these  persons 
in  magnifying  the  supreme  excellencies  of  Jehovah, 
but  we  are  fully  convinced,  by  reason  of  these  very 

*  ^neid  vi.  27.  The  true  version  is  that  Ariadne  gave  the 
clew. 


88  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

perfections,  that  their  conclusions  cannot  possibly 
be  true.  Whether  we  are  or  are  not  able  to  point 
out  the  sophistry,  we  know  that  reasonings,  which 
reach  such  a  conclusion,  must  be  false.  We  have 
testimony,  more  direct  and  more  complete,  to  con- 
vince us  that  this  result  is  untrue,  than  is  needful 
to  overpower  the  force  of  any  metaphysical  reason- 
ings in  its  favour.  Every  well  regulated  mind  in- 
stantly rejects  the  thought  as  blasphemy,  when  told 
that  God  is  the  Author  of  sin.  Every  man's  con- 
science accuses  or  excuses  himself;  gives  him  plea- 
sure or  grief  in  view  of  his  own  conduct  and  cha- 
racter ;  and  seals  the  sentence  of  judgment  against 
him  as  the  author  of  his  own  sin.  And  the  Scrip- 
tures say  most  explicitly,  that  God  is  most  holy, 
cannot  be  tempted  of  evil,  and  tempts  no  man. 
Those  who  teach  this  blasphemy  cannot  guide  us 
forth  from  the  labyrinth. 

As  little  are  they  correct  guides,  by  whatever 
name  they  may  call  themselves,  who  affirm  that  sin 
is  an  evil  to  which  a  universe  of  rational  beings  is 
necessarily  liable ;  that  God  himself  is  unable  to 
prevent  moral  beings  from  sinning ;  that,  having 
formed  them  free,  it  is  beyond  even  his  power  to 
preserve  them  in  holiness  and  happiness.  This  es- 
pecial teaching  has  been  very  zealously  supported 
in  our  own  land,  and  at  one  time  threatened  to 
bring  in  the  most  serious  evils  upon  our  churches. 

Dr.  Taylor  of  New  Haven,  in  a  sermon  preached 
at  the  commencement  in  Yale  College  in  1828,  said, 


ADAM   AND   IIIS   TIMES.  89 

"  It  is  a  groundless  assumption  that  God  could  liave 
prevented  all  sin,  or  at  least,  the  present  degree  of 
sin  in  a  moral  system."  So  two  years  afterwards 
he  wrote  in  the  Christian  Spectator,  "  Free  moral 
agents  can  do  wrong  under  all  possible  preventing 
influence,"  1830,  page  563.  And  afterwards,  "We 
know  that  a  moral  system  necessarily  implies  the 
existence  of  free  agents,  with  the  power  to  act  in 
despite  of  all  opposing  power.  This  fact  sets  hu- 
man reason  at  defiance,  in  every  attempt  to  prove 
that  some  of  these  agents  will  not  use  that  power 
and  actually  sin."  1831,  page  617.  So  Prof. 
Charles  G.  Finney,  at  one  time  a  revival-preacher 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  afterwards  profes- 
sor of  Theology  at  Oberlin,  says,"  It  is  vain  to  talk 
of  God's  omnipotence  preventing  sin."  And  similar 
teachings  find  expression  elsewhere.  Arminians 
teach  that  God  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  sin,  "  con- 
sistently with  his  determination  to  give  and  maintain 
free  agency  to  his  creatures."*  But  we  need  not 
inquire  further  among  whom  these  views  are  held. 
According  to  this  theory,  if  God  would  make  moral 
beings  at  all,  he  must,  so  to  speak,  run  the  risk  of 
their  sinning,  a  matter  which  he  could  not  prevent. 
We  may  prefer  to  receive  almost  any  other  teaching 
upon  this  profound  topic  rather  than  believe  this. 
Put  this  thread  in  our  hands,  and  instead  of  guiding 
us  upward  and  onward  to  the  light  of  day,  it  leads 
us  downward  and  inward  to  the  darkest  and  gloomi- 

^  Watson's  Institutes,  P.  ii.  ch.  xxviii. 

8  * 


90  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

est  chambers  beyond  all  hope.  We  regard  it  as  de- 
structive of  some  of  the  most  distinctive  and  most 
precious  teachings  of  the  inspired  volume ;  and  as 
dishonouring  God  almost  beyond  conception.  He 
is  no  longer  a  Sovereign ;  the  creatures  he  has  made 
are  quite  beyond  his  control ;  he  may  wish,  and  he 
may  make  all  possible  efforts,  to  effect  his  purposes; 
but  men  and  devils  will  do  as  they  please  in  spite 
of  him.  They  are  independent  of  him,  and  as  a 
necessary  consequence  he  is  not  independent  of 
them.  He  may  form  his  plans,  but  so  far  as  they 
are  concerned,  his  purposes  may  not  be  carried  out. 
If  these  things  are  true,  we  cannot  depend  on  the 
prophecies  of  the  Bible ;  for  men  may  refuse  to  do 
what  God  has  said  they  will,  and  he  has  no  power 
to  produce  the  results  predicted.  We  cannot  trust 
its  promises ;  we  ought  never  to  pray  that  God 
would  advance  any  cause  that  depends  on  man's  in- 
strumentality. 

The  necessary  consequences  of  these  teachings 
are  so  dreadful  that  we  shrink  back  from  them  with 
horror.  "  To  be  a  free  agent  necessarily  implies  a 
liability  to  sin."  We  do  not  believe  it.  To  be  in 
a  state  of  probation  as  Adam  was,  may  imply  this ; 
but  free  agency  does  not.  We  believe  that  God  can 
establish  a  free  agent  in  holiness  and  happiness  be- 
yond the  possibility  of  fall  for  ever.  "If  God," 
says  Dr.  E.  D.  Griffin,  "could  not  have  prevented 
sin  in  all  worlds  and  ages,  he  cannot  prevent  sin  in 
any  world  or  age,  or  in  any  creature  at  any  time. 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  91 

except  by  preventing  the  particular  occasion  and 
temptation.  If  God  could  not  have  prevented  sin 
in  the  universe,  he  cannot  prevent  believers  from 
fatally  falling.  He  cannot  prevent  Gabriel  and 
Paul  from  sinking  at  once  into  devils,  and  heaven 
from  turning  into  a  hell.  And  were  he  to  create 
new  races  to  fill  the  vacant  seats,  they  might  turn 
to  devils  as  fast  as  he  created  them,  in  spite  of  any 
thing  he  could  do,  short  of  destroying  their  moral 
agency.  He  is  liable  to  be  defeated  in  all  his  de- 
signs, and  to  be  as  miserable  as  he  is  benevolent. 
This  is  infinitely  the  gloomiest  idea  that  was  ever 
thrown  upon  the  world.  It  is  gloomier  than  hell 
itself.  For  this  involves  only  the  destruction  of  a 
part ;  but  that  involves  the  wretchedness  of  God 
and  his  whole  creation.  And  how  awfully  gloomy 
as  it  respects  the  prospects  of  individual  believers  ! 
You  have  no  security  that  you  shall  stand  an  hour. 
And  even  if  you  get  to  heaven,  you  have  no  cer- 
tainty of  remaining  there  a  day."* 

There  is  however  another  view  of  this  matter 
which  we  seem  bound  to  take.  We  do  not  pretend 
that  the  difficulties  of  the  subject  can  be  solved  by 
us.  But  a  thread  may  guide  us  through  the  labyr- 
inth, if  we  do  not  understand  the  entire  plan  of  its 
halls  and  passages.  This  thread  is  the  simple  prin- 
ciple, that,  in  religion  as  well  as  in  natural  philoso- 
phy, we  are  bound  to  recognize  all  the  facts  that 
are  brought  to  our  knowledge,  even  when  we  cannot 
-^  Divine  Efficiency,  180. 


92  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

explain  their  connection,  or  even  their  consistency. 
All  truths  are  consistent ;  but  it  is  not  a  prerequi- 
site to  our  knowledge  of  any  truth  that  we  are  able 
to  point  out  how  it  is  consistent  with  other  things. 
We  believe  that  God  is  the  full,  necessary,  and  per- 
petual Sovereign  of  the  universe ;  that  at  all  times 
and  in  all  things  he  doeth  according  to  his  pleasure 
in  heaven  and  on  earth ;  and  yet  that  he  so  governs 
free  creatures  that  their  freedom  is  secured  in  the 
most  perfect  harmony  with  the  execution  of  his  great 
purposes.  Though  then  he  could  have  prevented 
the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  universe ;  and  though 
we  cannot  determine  the  reasons  w^hy  he  did  not,  we 
believe  he  permitted  it  to  enter.  We  know  his  su- 
preme independence ;  his  sovereign  poAver ;  his 
ability  to  plan  and  to  foretell  the  future,  even  in 
regard  to  those  things  which  concern  the  free  ac- 
tions of  even  sinful  beings.  We  know  that  sin 
exists ;  that  sinners  act  freely ;  that  their  con- 
sciences condemn  them  for  it ;  and  that  God  holds 
them  responsible.  We  know  that  his  Spirit  regen- 
erates the  hearts  of  sinful  men,  yet  without  inter- 
fering with  their  free  agency ;  that  believers  in 
the  gospel  of  Christ  are  surely  "kept  by  the  power 
of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation,"  so  that  they 
cannot  be  separated  from  the  love  of  Christ ;  and 
that  the  holy  angels  and  the  spirits  of  redeemed 
men  in  heaven  are  confirmed  in  holiness  and  happi- 
ness for  ever  beyond  the  possibility  of  fall,  though 
they  are  as  free  moral  agents  as  it  is  possible  for 


ADAM   AND   IIIS   TIMES.  93 

creatures  to  be :  we  know  in  full  consistency  with 
all  these  facts  that  sin  does  exist,  and  that  God  will 
glorify  himself  in  the  great  scheme  of  redemption 
from  sin.  Here  we  must  stop.  Why  he  has  al- 
lowed sin  to  enter,  we  can  only  partially  understand. 
But  his  sovereignty  and  man's  freedom,  his  holi- 
ness and  man's  sin,  are  truths  settled  in  our  firm 
faith,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  most  subtle  sophistry 
and  the  most  malignant  cavils. 

Yet  while  we  may  wisely  decline  all  attempts  to 
fathom  the  deep  counsels  of  God  in  this  great  thing, 
there  are  two  matters  to  which  we  may  justly  give 
our  thoughts  :  First,  we  may  vindicate  the  supre- 
macy and  the  righteousness  of  God,  as  in  the  views 
just  now  expressed :  and  secondly,  we  may  believe 
that  God  designs  by  the  plan  of  salvation  to  show  to 
the  universe  his  wonderful  wisdom,  perhaps  as  it 
could  not  otherwise  be  shown.  Eph.  iii.  10.  We 
do  not  know  whether  God's  justice  could  be  under- 
stood while  his  law  was  never  broken;  certainly  his 
mercy  could  never  be  exercised  without  sinful  ob- 
jects ;  and  above  all,  the  harmony  of  justice  and 
mercy  in  actual  exercise,  required  a  scheme  like 
that  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 


94  ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    GREAT    TEMPTER. 

"  For  whence 
Bat  from  the  author  of  all  ill,  could  spring 
So  deep  a  malice,  to  confound  the  race 
Of  mankind  in  one  root  ?" 

MiLTOisr. 

Our  attention,  as  we  draw  near  the  scene  of 
temptation,  is  first  called  to  the  Tempter.  He  is 
here  described  as  a  serpent.  Nor  need  we  doubt 
that  the  animal  spoken  of  was  a  kind  of  serpent ; 
though  one  modern  commentator  has  ventured  to 
express  a  fantastic  opinion  on  this  point,  and  thus 
early  in  his  commentaries  upon  the  entire  Bible,  to 
bid  us  beware  of  trusting  too  much  to  such  a  judg- 
ment. If  even  we  had  any  doubts  of  the  true 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  here  translated  as 
serpent,  the  point  would  be  settled  by  the  authority 
of  the  New  Testament.  For  there  it  is  declared 
that  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve ;  and  we  need  have 
no  doubts  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  Greek  word 
there  used.  It  may  possibly  be  that  the  whole 
tribe  of  serpents  was  originally  formed  to  move  in 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  95 

a  more  erect  posture  than  they  now  do ;  as  we 
know  that  now  some  species  of  serpents,  especially 
when  excited,  are  accustomed  to  move  with  their 
heads  considerably  elevated  from  the  ground. 

But  temptation  almost  always  comes  in  insidious 
and  deceitful  forms ;  its  plausible  pretensions  give 
it  its  chief  currency  ;  and  we  must  be  upon  our 
guard  against  things  that  seem  harmless.  The 
serpent  was  an  animal  endowed  with  subtlety  above 
the  other  creatures ;  yet  the  serpent  was  but  an  in- 
strument. The  true  tempter  was  another,  an  intel- 
ligent being,  making  use  of  this  form,  to  serve  his 
wicked  purpose  of  deceiving  man  and  of  leading  him 
to  sin.  The  Scriptures  reveal  the  tempter  under 
the  name  of  Satan — an  adversary.  The  Apostle 
John  not  only  tells  us  that  the  devil  sinneth  from 
the  beginning ;  but  he  gives  him  the  various  names 
of  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  and  Satan.  Who 
this  adversary  was  and  is,  we  are  also  informed. 
Sin  did  not  begin  in  the  universe  with  the  family 
of  man.  There  are  angels  whom  God  created  in 
holiness  and  happiness,  who  kept  not  their  first 
estate,  and  who  were  cast  down  from  heaven  and  are 
now  reserved  in  chains  of  darkness  until  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  day.  The  chief  of  these  is  called 
the  devil,  Beelzebub,  Apollyon,  and  Satan.  Men 
have  indeed  professed  to  doubt  the  existence  of  this 
adversary,  and  of  such  powerful  adversaries  to  man 
as  the  fallen  angels.  Yet  while  we  can  easily  de- 
cide that  the  designs  of  such  an  adversary  can  be 


96  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

all  the  more  busily  and  successfully  carried  forward, 
if  he  can  add  this  to  his  other  deceits  that  men 
should  be  persuaded  that  he  has  no  existence ;  we 
may  as  easily  see  the  proofs  of  what  he  is  and  what 
he  can  do,  in  the  sad  history  of  the  world,  behind 
us  and  around  us.  But  we  need  have  no  doubts 
upon  this  subject,  if  we  receive  in  simple  confidence 
the  clear  and  explicit  statements  of  the  Bible. 

This  sacred  volume  reveals  to  us  a  world  of 
spiritual  beings,  having  much  intercourse  with  men, 
of  whom  we  would  be  ignorant  but  for  its  teach- 
ings. 

"  Millions  of  spiritual  creatures  walk  the  earth 
Unseen,  both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep." 

Why  God  permits  the  fallen  angels  to  exert  their 
powers  of  evil  and  to  tempt  man — like  a  vast  cham- 
ber in  the  great  labyrinth  to  whose  high  roof  and 
distant  walls  our  eyes,  at  least  in  these  abodes  of 
darkness,  cannot  see — is  a  branch  of  the  great 
question  concerning  the  origin  of  evil  which  we 
cannot  understand.  The  simple  and  serious  facts 
we  may  well  know — Satan  is  a  powerful,  wicked, 
malignant  foe  of  man.  He  is,  in  the  sacred  writ- 
ings, represented  as  the  god  of  this  world,  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  and  the  accuser  of 
God's  people,  who  accuses  them  night  and  day  be- 
fore God.  2  Cor.  iv.  4.  Eph.  ii.  2.  Rev.  xii.  10. 
He  works  in  the  children  of  disobedience.  Eph.  ii. 
2 ;  blinds  the  eyes  of  them  that  believe  not,  2  Cor. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  97 

iv.  4 ;  leads  captive  wretched  souls  at  his  will,  2 
Tim.  ii.  26 ;  and  catches  away  the  truth  from  the 
hearts  of  those  that  hear  the  gospel,  lest  they  should 
believe  and  be  saved,  Luke  viii.  12.  So  great  is 
his  presumption  that  he  did  not  forbear  to  assault 
the  Son  of  God  himself  when  he  became  incarnate, 
and  attempt  to  beguile  him  by  subtlety.  Of  such 
an  adversary ;  of  his  subtle  deceits ;  and  of  the  means 
of  our  safety,  it  is  our  folly  to  be  ignorant.  For 
no  believer  on  earth  is  safe  from  his  attacks.  And 
this  is  a  matter  well  worthy  of  our  frequent  and 
serious  study  —  to  know  the  arts  of  this  great 
Tempter.  From  the  first  scene  in  Paradise  to  the 
present  time,  he  has  prosecuted  his  plans  to  lead 
men  away  from  God.  He  transforms  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light ;  he  misrepresents  both  the  truth 
to  make  it  appear  burdensome,  and  the  falsehood 
to  make  it  seem  attractive;  he  is  a  liar  and  a 
murderer  from  the  beginning,  not  to  be  trusted  in 
any  word  he  says,  and  to  be  feared  in  all  he  aims  to 
do. 
9 


98  ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

man's  first  sin. 

*'  Her  rash  hand  in  evil  hour 
Forth  reaching  to  the  fruit,  she  plucked,  she  ate; 
Earth  felt  the  wound,  and  nature  from  her  seat 
Sighing  through  all  her  works  gave  signs  of  woe 
That  all  was  lost." 

Milton. 

The  first  sin  of  man  has  been  thought,  by  some, 
an  insignificant  act  to  be  followed  by  consequences 
so  serious.  It  is  a  difficult  task  to  weigh  accurately 
the  actions  of  men.  But  we  can  easily  decide  that 
the  deeds  of  men  are  not  to  be  estimated  by  the 
magnitude  of  individual  acts,  by  the  time  occupied 
in  doing  them,  or  even  by  their  consequences  ;  but 
rather  by  the  principles  involved  in  them,  and  the 
motives  of  the  actors.  The  sin  of  our  first  parents 
was  a  serious  offence,  not  only  as  the  first  sin  of 
man,  but  because  it  was  attended  by  many  circum- 
stances which  a  righteous  judgment  would  regard  as 
aggravations  of  their  iniquity. 

They  had  no  apology  for  desiring  the  fruit  of  this 
tree.     The  wise  man  says,  "  Men  do  not  despise  a 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  99 

thief  if  he  steal  to  satisfy  his  soul  when  he  is 
hungry."  Prov.  vi.  30.  That  is,  when  a  man  must 
starve  or  eat  what  is  not  his  own,  necessity  affords 
some  extenuation  for  appropriating  the  goods  of 
another.  But  God  had  filled  that  fruitful  garden 
with  every  good  and  beautiful  tree,  to  which  this  first 
pair  had  free  access ;  they  were  the  rich  possessors 
of  abundance,  more  than  they  could  use  ;  and  they 
should  have  cast  no  longing  eyes  towards  that  single 
tree  which  alone  had  been  forbidden. 

The  singleness  of  the  tree,  the  simplicity  of  the 
Divine  command,  and  the  confession  of  the  par- 
ties, prove  that  they  erred  through  no  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  right.  There  are  complicated  moral 
questions  whict  perplex  even  sincere  inquirers  after 
truth ;  and  error  seems  less  flagrant  when  adopted 
ignorantly.  But  the  first  sin  was  not  such  a  case. 
Adam  and  Eve  knew  very  w^ell  the  command  laid 
upon  them.  No  deep  argument,  or  long  reflection, 
or  practical  experience  was  necessary  to  teach  them 
what  they  should  do.  The  direction  was  so  plain 
that  a  child  could  not  jnisunderstand ;  nor  did  they 
ever  allege,  even  in  their  guilt,  that  they  had  not 
fully  known  their  duty. 

The  happy  pair  in  Eden  were  under  the  greatest 
possible  obligation  to  obey  the  God  who  com- 
manded them  not  to  eat  of  that  tree.  They 
knew  him  ;  knew  his  holy  character ;  knew  what 
blessings  he  had  already  bestowed  upon  them ;  and 
their  Maker  and  Benefactor  had  claims  which  should 


100  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

have  kept  them  steadfast  in  their  obedience.  Their 
offence  was  worse  that  they  listened  to  the  voice  of 
such  a  tempter.  It  may  be  that  they  thought  not 
of  Satan ;  perhaps  they  knew  nothing  of  him ;  they 
saw  here  possibly  only  a  serpent ;  but  no  living 
creature  should  have  borne  comparison  in  their 
minds  with  their  glorious  God;  and  they  should 
not  have  believed  the  words  of  any  creature — insig- 
nificant or  otherwise — in  preference  to  the  words 
of  their  Creator. 

Moreover,  our  first  parents  were  distinctly  fore- 
warned that  death  would  result  from  eating  of  this 
fruit.  The  full  meaning  of  the  term  and  the  fear- 
ful things  included  in  it,  they  may  not  have  under- 
stood. Doubtless  the  earth  would  have  known 
many  changes  by  death  and  like  death,  if  man  had 
never  sinned.  The  seasons  would  have  gone  their 
rounds  and  brought  their  necessary  mutations.  If 
spring  brought  forth  its  blades  and  blossoms,  every 
seed  must  die  before  the  shoot  appeared ;  every 
flower  must  fall  before  the  fruit  could  form  or  ripen  ; 
and  autumn,  then  as  now,  must  have  been  a  season 
of  seared  and  fallen  leaves.  So  the  beasts  of  the 
earth  would  die  in  their  times.  But  during  man's 
brief  estate  of  innocency  he  may  have  seen  too 
little  even  of  these  things,  to  give  him  any  deep 
impressions  of  the  meaning  of  the  term,  death. 
Adam  may  have  had  a  low  and  feeble  idea  of  the 
evil  thus  threatened.  But  sinners  very  seldom  do 
form  either  a  just  or  a  definite  idea  of  the  result 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  101 

of  their  sins.     Perhaps  no  transgressor  ever  fully 
anticipated  the  end  of  his  transgression.     It  is  not 
needful  to  the  most  complete  responsibility  that  the 
mind  should  know  all  the  results  of  our  conduct. 
It  is  enough  if  the  law  is  fairly  known  and  the  lia- 
bility of  the  sinner  to  a  righteous  penalty  is  recog- 
nized.    Our  first  parents  knew  that  to  eat  of  that 
fruit  would  bring  upon  them   the   disapproval  and 
displeasure  of  the  God  who  had  forbidden  it.    And 
the  Divine  displeasure— if  continued— would  itself 
imply  the  most  serious  meaning  of  this  term,  death, 
even  when  it  refers  to  an  immortal  being.     Surely 
no  soul  can  be  happy  when  God  is  displeased.    The 
wretchedness  of  the  sinner— especially  of  one,  who, 
like  Adam,  had  known   God's   favour— must  result 
from  his  separation  from  God. 

In   contrast   with  the  threatened   penalty,    was 
the  promise  fairly  implied.     Even  supposing  that 
our  first  father  understood  the  promise  as  little  as 
he  did  the  threatening ;  that  is,  that  he  was  equally 
unable  fully  to  anticipate  the  blessings  of  life  eter- 
nal, and  the  dread  meaning  of  death  eternal ;  yet 
he  knew  clearly  that  by  his  obedience  he  would  re- 
tain the  highest  source  of  permanent  happiness  in 
the  favour  and   approbation    of  God.     No  induce- 
ment should  have  prevailed  to  lead  him  to  such  an 
exchange  of  God's  approbation  for  his  displeasure. 
Nor  should  we  forget   another   consideration  of 
the  very  gravest  kind,  which  should  have  kept  back 
our  first  parents  from  that  great  offence.     The  first 


102  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

man,  Adam,  stood  not  for  himself  alone,  but  as  the 
head  and  representative  of  all  his  unborn  children. 
We  have  no  detailed  and  formal  account  in  these 
early  chapters  of  Genesis,  of  the  covenant  so  made 
"with  Adam  as  to  make  him  the  representative  of 
the  human  family.  Many  therefore  have  denied  that 
he  did  sustain  any  such  relation.  Yet  all  who  prop- 
erly consider  this  important  matter  ought  to  ac- 
knowledge these  two  things  : 

First,  Adam  stood  towards  the  entire  human 
family  exactly  in  that  relation  which  will  harmonize 
all  the  teachings  that  God  has  given  us  in  regarci 
to  him.  We  are  bound  to  hear,  not  only  the  book 
of  Genesis,  but  all  the  word  of  God :  nor  should 
■we  fail  to  gather  rays  of  light  from  the  teachings 
of  his  providence.  Upon  this  matter  David,  and 
Hosea,  and  Paul  are  witnesses  as  competent  as 
Moses ;  and  we  must  receive  all  the  later  exposi- 
tions of  the  Bible  which  throw  light  upon  the  earlier 
narratives. 

Second,  the  real  relation  held  towards  the  race 
by  Adam  was  doubtless  understood  by  him.  We  are 
not  to  measure  his  knowledge  by  the  brief  records 
of  his  times ;  it  is  no  violent  presumption  to  sup- 
pose that  he  knew  the  truth  upon  a  point  of  such 
importance,  even  though  we  are  left  to  gather  the 
entire  truth  from  far  later  teachings. 

Let  us  keep  these  thoughts  in  view.  The  per- 
sonal duty  of  Adam  to  obey  God  would  be  the 
same,  whether  we  consider   him   as  acting  simply 


ADAM    AND   HIS    TIMES.  lO'J 

under  a  law,  or  as  acting  under  a  covenant.  His 
responsibility  in  transgression  is  greatly  increased, 
if  he  knew  that  he  acted  in  a  public  capacity — as 
the  head  and  representative  of  the  human  race : 
and  in  this  we  may  find  a  strong  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  the  true  state  of  the  case  was  not  unknown 
to  him.  But  we  say  these  things  not  as  undervalu- 
ing the  teachings  of  Genesis.  We  think  that  we 
can  gather  proofs  from  the  brief  narrative  that  our 
first  father  had  a  full  understanding  of  all  that  is 
implied  in  a  covenant,  and  gave  his  full  consent  to 
all  its  terms. 

1.  Man  was  bound  to  perfect  obedience.  Of 
this  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree  was  made  a 
special  test ;  and  man  accepted  of  the  test.  So 
Eve  declared,  We  may  eat  of  every  tree  but  this. 

2.  Death  was  the  threatened  penalty  of  disobe- 
dience. 

3.  Life  was  promised  upon  his  obedience.  This 
is  fairly  implied;  and  the  subsequent  Scriptures 
often  assert  it.  "  Moses  describeth  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  of  the  law,  that  the  man  which  doeth 
these  things  shall  live  by  them."  Rom.  x.  5. 

4.  Not  only  Adam  but  all  his  children  after  him 
were  included  in  this  covenant.  The  proof  of  this 
begins  with  Eve's  recognition  of  the  covenant  as 
binding  her,  though  made  with  Adam ;  it  is  strength- 
ened by  the  actual  sentence  pronounced,  by  its  exe- 
cution in  succeeding  ages,  and  by  the  teachings  of 


104  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

the  subsequent  Scriptures  "svliich  we  may  notice 
hereafter. 

Surely  if  Adam  understood  that  this  was  his  re- 
lation to  our  race,  his  sin  was  one  of  great  enormity. 
And  different  from  the  opinion  often  held  upon  this 
matter,  we  may  not  forget  to  add  that  the  very  in- 
significance of  the  act  in  itself  considered,  is  a  re- 
markable aggravation  of  that  first  offence.  When 
very  strong  inducements  are  held  out  to  lead  any 
one  from  the  path  of  virtue,  we  feel  more  pity  for 
the  transgressor  than  when  one  exchanges  innocence 
for  guilt  upon  trifling  grounds.  We  honour  a  de- 
feated commander  who  bravely  holds  his  post  as 
long  as  possible  against  superior  forces ;  we  re- 
proach the  cowardice  of  one  who  surrenders  at  the 
first  call,  without  a  struggle,  and  to  a  feebler  force. 
It  makes  the  matter  worse,  not  better,  that  Adam 
sold  Eden,  innocence,  life,  and  God's  favour  for  the 
forbidden  fruit. 

For  reasons  like  these  we  cannot  agree  with  the 
opinions  of  those  who  make  light  of  man's  first  sin, 
or  who  think  that  matters  too  grave  were  made  to 
depend  upon  too  small  a  thing.  The  smaller  the 
inducement  to  transgression,  the  greater  the  ad- 
vantage to  man  in  innocence.  The  excellent  plenty 
of  all  the  garden,  contrasted  with  the  fruit  of  a  sin- 
gle tree  and  the  slight  gratification  it  could  afford ; 
the  simplicity  of  the  command  which  precluded 
all  possibility  of  mistake ;  the  obligations  under 
which  he  was  to  God,  and  the  folly  of  believing  any 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  105 

creature  who  spoke  in  plain  contradiction  of  the 
Creator ;  the  penalty  and  the  promise ;  the  know- 
ledge that  interests  so  great  were  involved  in  that 
solemn  covenant ;  and  the  very  insignificance  of 
that  tempting  fruit ;  all  these  things  make  the  trans- 
gression of  Adam  most  serious  indeed.  And  finally 
his  first  estate  ;  no  bias  of  sin  inclining  him  to  evil, 
no  darkness  of  understanding  clouding  his  views,  in 
perfect  holiness,  having  everything  to  make  him 
happy,  must  be  thought  the  aggravation  of  his  of- 
fence. His  inexperience  of  evil  was  an  advantage. 
For  he  was  advertised  of  his  danger ;  the  very  name 
of  the  forbidden  tree  was  a  warning ;  and  innocence 
is  a  better  protection  against  threatening  evils,  than 
a  partial  experience  has  ever  proved  to  be.  We 
rank  Adam  among  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  esteem 
the  first  sin  as  one  of  peculiar  enormity.  Applying 
our  usual  tests  to  ascertain  the  heinous  nature  of 
any  offence,  we  can  have  no  sympathy  with  those 
who  judge  man's  first  ofi'ence  a  trifle. 


106  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  TEMPTATION. 

We  may  now  draw  near  the  scene  of  temptation. 
We  have  no  just  reason  to  think  that  the  inspired 
records  give  us  a  full  account  of  any  part  of  the 
history.  These  are  brief  sketches,  not  full  details. 
The  words  of  Moses  have  been  compared  to  our 
modern  telegraphic  despatches ;  few  words  are  used 
to  express  a  great  deal  of  meaning;  we  learn  much,, 
yet  we  crave  more,  especially  in  regard  to  these 
important  early  scenes,  we  greatly  desire  fuller 
communications.  "  Who  is  there  among  us  that 
would  not  give  twenty  of  the  best  volumes  from  his 
shelves,  for  twenty  lines  which  should  acquaint  him 
with  the  condition  of  our  first  parents  during  the 
first  years  after  the  fall  and  their  expulsion  from 
paradise?"*  And  truly  a  larger  knowledge  of  the 
fall  itself  would  be  no  less  interesting. 

The  tempter,  we  are  told,  approached  not  Adam, 
but    Eve,   apparently  by    herself   and   unguarded. 
The  Apostle  Paul  says  that  "  Adam  was  not  de- 
*  Kitto.     Bible  111. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  107 

ceived,  but  the  woman  being  deceived  was  in  the 
transgression."  1  Tim.  ii.  14.  Some  understand 
this  to  mean  that  Adam,  finding  that  Eve  had  al- 
ready transgressed,  chose  to  join  her,  though  fully 
aware  of  the  evil  consequences.  This  is  the  inter- 
pretation put  upon  his  first  sin  by  Milton  in  Para- 
dise Lost.  But  the  apostle  may  simply  mean  that 
Eve  sinned  first. 

Notice  the  manner  of  his  approach,  that  we  may 
learn  his  methods  in  temptation.  He  begins  by  in- 
sinuating, rather  than  by  expressing,  hard  thoughts 
of  God.  He  affects  to  feel  surprise  that  any  tree 
of  the  garden  should  be  forbidden  to  them.  But 
having  engaged  her  attention  and  awakened  a  train 
of  reflections  suitable  for  his  purposes,  he  speaks 
plainly  and  boldly  in  contradiction  of  the  kindness 
of  their  Creator.  And  we  may  well  notice  that  de- 
ceivers often  command  our  belief  of  the  barest  and 
most  mischievous  falsehood,  by  the  very  boldness 
and  assurance  with  which  they  assert  them.  Our 
confidence  is  naturally  called  forth  towards  sincerity, 
and  error  often  spreads  because  its  bold  advocates 
seem  sincere.  Satan  is  first  surprised  that  God  had 
forbidden  this  tree ;  but  how  soon  he  ventures  to 
deny  boldly  that  the  prohibition  is  disinterested ! 
He  declares  that  death  shall  not  follow  their  eating 
of  it,  and  that,  indeed,  knowledge  like  to  God  him- 
self will  result.  Nor  is  it  unlikely  that  he  appealed 
to  the  very  name  of  the  tree  as  a  confession,  that  a 


108  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

desirable  knowledge  beyond  their  present  estate, 
would  be  secured  by  their  eating. 

Doubtless  advantage  was  taken  to  address  our 
first  mother  when  she  stood  in  sight  of  the  tree  it- 
self. "  The  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for 
food."  There  is  danger  in  drawing  near  tempta- 
tion, even  w^hen  we  are  aware  of  its  nature,  and  are 
most  upon  our  guard.  The  wise  man  warns  us, 
"  Avoid  it,  pass  not  by  it,  turn  from  it,  and  pass 
away."  The  voice  of  the  tempter  finds  a  great 
auxiliary  in  the  eye  of  the  tempted ;  alas  !  we  are 
already  in  greater  peril  when  we  consent  to  look. 
Eve  heard  a  voice  at  which  she  should  have  stopped 
her  ear  the  moment  she  understood  the  object ;  she 
looked  upon  that  fair  fruit  just  when  she  ought  to 
have  turned  away. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  trace  the  course  of  feel- 
ing in  the  first  transgressor.  But  distrust  of  God 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  wrong  thought.  And 
when  jealousy  of  him  entered  her  mind,  "when 
Eve  let  go  her  hold  upon  that  glorious  benefactor, 
till  then  absolutely  loved,  venerated,  and  trusted, 
she  was  prepared  for  every  thing  which  could  fol- 
low. "  *  She  could  begin  then  to  believe  that  the  advan- 
tages promised  by  the  tempter  should  indeed  be  hers. 
And  when  in  obedience  already  to  a  false  lord,  she 
looked  upon  the  tree ;  when  the  lust  of  the  eye 
made  way  for  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  pride  of 
being  like  God  was  not  far  ofi".  The  tree  was  pleas- 
*  Dwight's  Theology,  i.  407. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  109 

ant  to  the  sight ;  here  is  the  lust  of  the  eye.  It 
was  good  for  food ;  here  is  the  appetite  for  sensual 
indulgence.  It  was  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make 
one  wise ;  here  is  the  pride  of  life. 

This  sin,  like  so  many  that  have  succeeded  it  in 
human  experience,  came  into  gradual  strength  to 
secure  her  downfall.  She  indulged  irreverent 
thoughts  of  God :  she  desired  to  taste  the  beautiful 
fruit ;  she  aspired  to  the  expected  knowledge,  that 
she  might  be  as  God ;  she  hoped  that  the  threat- 
ened evil  would  not  result.  In  all  this  scene,  though 
the  matter  is  of  so  great  importance.  Eve  seems  to 
have  relied  wholly  upon  her  own  strength.  We 
hear  of  no  counselling  with  Adam,  though  they 
were  mutual  helpers,  and  he  doubtless  was  not  far 
off.  We  hear  of  no  looking  up  to  God  in  this  hour 
of  need.  How  many  prayers,  how  many  agonizing 
petitions  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  would  have  been 
spared  by  one  brief  petition  then  oflfered  for  sin's 
prevention ! 

She  looked  upon  the  tree,  desired  it,  partook  of 
it.  Nor  was  this  all.  Then  she  sought  for  her 
husband,  and  turning  tempter  in  her  turn,  as  sin- 
ners usually  do,  she  gave  also  to  her  husband,  and  he 
did  eat.  Thus  sin  entered  our  world.  "  Behold 
how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth."  This  is 
the  beginning  ;  who  can  tell  the  end  ?  Well  might 
our  great  English  poet  represent  the  sympathy  of 
suffering  nature  in  this  sad  event. 
10 


110  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

"  Earth  trembled  from  her  entrails 

Nature  gave  a  groan, 
Sky  lowered  and  muttering  thunder  some  sad  drops 
Wept  at  completing  of  the  mortal  sin 
Original.'* 

Par.  Lost,  ix. 

Among  the  immediate  consequences  of  this  sin 
upon  our  first  parents,  we  may  notice  that  they  did 
indeed  gain  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil ;  but  in 
no  such  sense  as  they  understood  from  the  words  of 
the  tempter.  They  felt  immediately  shame  at  their 
own  nakedness,  and  attempted  by  a  frail  covering 
of  fig  leaves  to  clothe  themselves.  But  they  felt 
also,  now  for  the  first  time,  unwilling  to  meet  the 
God  whose  displeasure  they  knew  they  deserved. 
And  see  here  not  only  the  fears  but  the  usual  de- 
ceits of  sin.  They  are  foolish  enough  to  attempt 
concealment  even  from  the  eye  of  God.  And  when 
their  hiding  among  the  trees  of  the  garden  so  little 
availed  them,  we  find  that  these  unhappy  sinners 
have  learned  the  language  of  falsehood.  But  even 
their  untrue  reason  for  concealing  themselves  only 
serves  for  an  undesigned  confession  of  their  guilt. 
And  when  the  searching  inquiry  is  made  if  they 
had  eaten  of  the  tree,  we  see  the  usual  character- 
istic of  sin  in  the  self-justifying  spirit  that  would 
throw  the  blame  any  where  else  but  upon  them- 
selves. 

Our  first  parents  show  in  this  frst  interview  with 
their  Maker,  not  only  that  they  are   sinners,  but 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  Ill 

impenitent  sinners.  They  are  ashamed ;  they  are 
conscience  stricken ;  but  they  use  concealment, 
falsehood,  and  self  justification.  We  are  not  to 
regard  them  as  hardened  ofi"enders  ;  but  neither  are 
they  humble  and  penitent.  Indeed  they  had  no 
just  ground  for  approaching  their  offended  God  with 
any  hope  of  acceptance ;  and  we  do  not  believe 
that  true  penitence  toward  him  has  ever  existed  in 
any  guilty  mind,  save  as  it  is  awakened  in  view  of 
his  readiness  to  forgive.  The  prospects  before  the 
mind  of  fallen  Adam  were  dark  indeed.  Foolish 
as  he  was  to  hide  from  God,  it  was  quite  natural  that 
he  should  shrink  from  seeing  Him ;  and  yet,  alas  ! 
the  tree  has  added  very  little  to  his  stock  of  know- 
ledge, if  he  judges  that  his  falsehoods  can  pass  un- 
discovered. 

See  in  them  the  proof  that  it  is  not  in  the  power 
of  outward  things  to  bestow  happiness  upon  the  soul 
of  man.  Adam  and  his  wife  were  still  in  that  happy 
Paradise  which  God  had  specially  prepared  for 
their  comfort.  The  same  cool  walks  invited  them  ; 
the  same  shady  trees  protected  them ;  the  same 
ripe  fruits  hung  around  to  invite  their  taste ;  and 
they  still  had  each  other's  society.  But  the  garden 
-was  not  the  same  to  them.  A  new  crowd  of 
thoughts  within  changed  all  the  aspects  of  nature 
without.  Fear,  suspicion,  shame,  and  guilt  are  the 
new  inhabitants  of  Eden  ;  and  peace,  and  happi- 
ness, and  even  hope  fled  as  these  took  possession 


112  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

of  the  noblest  dwelling  place  in  the  garden — the 
only  palace  God  had  built  in  Paradise — even  the 
heart  of  man. 

And  here  we  may  see  that,  had  man  been  left  to 
himself,  the  breach  betw^een  him  and  God  would 
have  been  irreparable.  He  no  longer  desires  to  see 
God  ;  he  hides  himself  from  his  presence.  He  is  not 
a  hardened  sinner,  but  already  he  feels  like  shun- 
ning God.  And  if  this  was  his  state  of  mind,  it  is 
not  the  natural  tendency  of  sin  to  make  things  any 
better.  If  Adam  had  voluntarily  come  before  God 
frankly  confessing  his  offence,  it  would  seem  ingen- 
uous and  right.  He  had  committed  but  one  sin  ; 
he  had  formerly  known  God's  favour;  his  heart 
■was  not  made  obdurate  by  repeated  offences.  Yet 
he  made  no  movement  of  this  kind.  And  as  we 
know  that  these  matters  always  grow  worse  rather 
than  better ;  as  repeated  sin  hardens  the  heart  and 
never  softens  it ;  as  it  sends  men  further  and  fur- 
ther away  from  God,  and  never  seems  to  draw  them 
closer ;  so  we  may  reasonably  believe  that  if  Adam 
did  not  repent  immediately  upon  the  shame  of  his 
first  offence,  there  was  no  natural  tendency  towards 
repentance  .  in  any  future  period  of  his  course. 
The  estrangement  of  man  from  God  was  total ; 
every  new  step  was  further  departure ;  death  had 
already  begun  its  work  in  him ;  and  so  long  as 
Adam  lived — if  even  he  lived  for  ever — he  could 
not  look  up  with  the  filial  feelings  of  a  son  towards 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  113 

God,  as  his  heavenly  Father.     There  was  no  hope 

for  man  in  that  dreadful  day  ;  there  was  no  hope 
for  ever;    unless   God,  by  a  mercy   never  before 

shown,  should  make  the  first  overtures   to  heal  the 
fearful  breach. 
10* 


114  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   GOSPEL   ANNOUNCED. 

"Never  was  sung  a  sweeter  word, 
Nor  fuller  music  e'er  was  heard, 
Nor  deeper  aught  the  heart  hath  stirred." 

How  wretched,  indeed,  would  the  lot  of  our  first 
parents  have  been,  if  God  had  dealt  with  them  ac- 
cording to  their  sin ;  or  waited  to  show  mercy  until 
they  had  first  shown  relentings  and  repentance ! 
But  having  led  them  to  an  unwilling  confession,  be- 
fore proceeding  to  pass  upon  them  the  sentence  of 
his  law,  he  judges  their  tempter  and  opens  for  them 
a  door  of  hope.  It  may  be  true  that  many  pre- 
sumptuous men  sin  yet  more  because  of  the  mercy 
of  God ;  it  is  also  true  that  a  knowledge  of  his 
mercy  is  an  essential  element  of  evangelical  repent- 
ance. Had  God  spoken  his  sentence  first  upon  our 
first  parents,  despair  must  have  filled  their  minds ; 
but  he  intimates  the  plan  of  the  gospel,  before  he 
declares  the  results  of  their  sin,  or  sends  them  forth 
from  Paradise. 

The  first  sentence  of  the  Divine  displeasure  is 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  115 

pronounced  upon  the  serpent.  This  may  be  con- 
sidered in  two  parts : 

First,  there  is  the  curse  directed  against  the  ani- 
mal, the  serpent  itself.  Satan  had  used  this  as  an 
instrument  to  effect  his  evil  purpose;  and  God  so 
abhors  sin,  that  the  very  instruments  of  it,  fall 
under  his  curse.  The  serpent  must  go  upon  its 
belly  and  eat  the  dust ;  and  its  head  must  be  bruised. 
Possibly,  as  we  have  before  suggested,  this  animal 
previously  moved  in  a  spiral  manner ;  now  it  must 
be  prone.  And  the  curse  of  enmity  between  it  and 
man,  exists  yet  to  a  remarkable  degree.  No  class 
of  animals  is  more  universally  dreaded  and  hated 
by  man  than  the  race  of  serpents.  Nor  can  this 
fear  and  aversion  spring  from  the  venomous  charac- 
ter of  the  reptile.  Out  of  three  hundred  species 
of  serpents  in  the  world,  two  hundred  and  fifty  are 
harmless ;  some  of  them  are  beautiful ;  all  are 
graceful ;  and  yet,  by  a  kind  of  instinctive  antipa- 
thy, men  hate  the  sight  of  them.  It  is  not  even 
pleasant  to  talk  about  them.  Even  those  that  are 
known  to  be  harmless  are  almost  invariably  killed 
as  soon  as  seen ;  and  the  usual  mode  of  killing  a 
serpent  is  to  break  its  head.  These  things  wonder- 
fully agree  with  this  earliest  prediction  of  the 
Bible. 

Secondly,  the  burden  of  the  curse  did  not  rest 
upon  the  animal.  The  true  tempter  was  Satan,  and 
the  curse  is  therefore  chiefly  upon  him.  But  the 
sentence  against  man's  malignant  enemy  is  a  blessing 


116  ADAM   AND   HIS    TIMES. 

really  upon  the  man.  When,  therefore,  God  de- 
clares that  enmity  shall  exist  between  the  woman 
and  the  serpent,  between  their  seed  respectively, 
and  a  conflict  ending  in  the  bruising  of  his  head,  he 
speaks  a  blessing  to  us.  If  our  first  parents  had 
been  in  a  suitable  frame  of  mind,  perhaps  this 
blessing  would  have  been  addressed  directly  to 
them  ;*  but  as  Adam  has  made  only  unwilling  ac- 
knowledgments, God's  designs  of  grace  are  re- 
vealed in  the  form  of  threatening  against  the  ser- 
pent. 

It  is  agreed  among  evangelical  commentators  that 
this  sentence  against  Satan  contains  the  first  pro- 
mise of  the  gospel.  This  is  the  germ — like  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed — from  which  springs  forth  that 
great  tree  beneath  whose  shade  innumerable  multi- 
tudes find  rest  and  life. 

It  is  not  needful  for  us  to  ask.  How  much  did  our 
first  parents  understand  of  these  words  ?  It  is 
rather  our  place  to  inquire.  What  do  they  really 
mean  ?  Truth  is  like  light ;  a  very  little  of  it  is 
of  invaluable  excellence,  though  the  clearer  it  is  the 
better.  Doubtless  they  knew  more  of  the  meaning 
of  these  words  afterwards ;  but  our  understanding 
of  truth  does  not  always  depend  upon  the  clearness 
with  which  it  is  spoken.  These  expressive  words 
imply  plainly  a  conflict,  especially  between  the  seed 
of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent,  in  which 
the  victory  shall  remain  with  the  woman.  This 
*  A.  Fuller. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  117 

much  our  first  parents  might  know  as  soon  as  they 
heard  the  voice  of  God ;  but  we,  who  have  seen  this 
seed  of  Scriptural  prophecies  grow  into  larger  pre- 
dictions, and  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  actual  fulfil- 
ment, may  better  know  its  fulness  of  meaning. 

1.  By  the  seed  of  the  woman  we  may  chiefly  un- 
derstand the  great  Redeemer  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  many  reasons  why  the  Saviour  of  fallen 
man  should  himself  be  a  man.  That  in  the  same 
nature  that  had  broken  the  law,  obedience  should 
be  rendered  and  satisfaction  made,  seemed  eminently 
proper.  But  to  give  us  also  boldness  of  access  to 
God ;  and  to  enable  him  to  sympathize  with  us, 
having  a  fellow-feeling  of  our  infirmities,  ( Heb.  ii. 
iii.) ;  and  in  the  superaboundings  of  God's  grace, 
to  advance  the  dignity  of  our  nature,  are  the  further 
Divine  purposes  in  giving  us  a  human  Redeemer. 
But  the  Redeemer  must  not  be  only  a  man.  A 
man  and  nothing  more — a  me^iber  of  the  fallen  race 
in  all  its  liabilities,  could  be  no  Saviour  of  the 
fallen.  We  may  therefore  expect  to  find,  in  this 
early  proclamation  of  the  gospel,  a  mystery ;  an 
enigmatical  expression  of  truth  to  be  explained 
hereafter.  This  bruiser  of  Satan's  head  is  to  be 
human,  yet  separated  from  the  ordinary  humanity ; 
a  man,  yet  not  simply  of  the  race ;  partaker  of  the 
nature,  yet  not  partaker  of  the  liabilities  of  the  na- 
ture of  man.  Mark  the  expression,  *'  the  woman's 
seed."  Mark  the  fact  that,  as  man  had  already 
fallen,  this  promised  Deliverer  was  not  represented 


118  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

by  Adam  in  the  covenant  of  Eden.  Not.  the  seed 
of  Adam,  but  of  the  woman  ;  not  promised  before, 
but  after  the  fall,  there  is  but  one  person  of  all 
history  who  fully  answers  the  terms  of  this  first 
prophecy ;  the  child  born  of  a  virgin  in  Bethlehem 
of  Judea. 

An  interesting  chapter  of  human  opinions  could 
easily  be  gathered  in  the  illustrations  which  pagan- 
ism affords  of  this  first  declaration  of  the  gospel. 
The  serpent  plays  a  most  important  part  in  the  fall 
of  man,  according  to  the  traditions  of  many  pagan 
nations.  Dr.  Kitto  mentions  an  ancient  bas-relief 
thus  described  : — ''  At  one  hand  are  a  man  and 
woman  standing  naked  under  a  tree,  the  woman  in 
a  drooping  and  disconsolate  posture,  the  man  with 
one  hand  raised  to  the  tree,  and  the  other  directed 
towards  the  woman.  It  is  such  a  picture  that  a 
child  would  at  once  say,  '  That  is  Adam  and  Eve.' 
At  the  other  extremity  is  a  sedate  and  august  figure 
seated  upon  a  rock  and  strangling  the  serpent  with 
his  hand."*  "  By  consulting  Moore's  Hindu  Pan- 
theon it  will  be  seen  that  the  serpent,  Caliya,  is  re- 
presented as  the  decided  enemy  of  the  mediatorial 
God,  Krishna,  whom  he  persecutes,  and  on  whom 
he  inflicts  various  suff'erings,  though  he  is  at  length 
vanquished.  Krishna,  pressed  within  the  folds  of 
the  serpent,  and  then  triumphing  over  him  and 
bruising  his  head  beneath  his  feet,  is  the  subject  of 
a  very  ancient  Hindu  bas-relief  and  carries  with  it 

*  Kitto,  Bib.  111.  i.  60.     Creuzer's  Symbolik.,  pi.  158. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  119 

its  own  interpretation.*"  So  the  great  prince  pro- 
mised in  the  famous  Sybilline  leaves  of  the  Ro- 
mans, was  to  abolish  injustice  and  violent  death, 
kill  the.  serpent,  purge  the  earth  of  poisons,  and  es- 
tablish universal  peace.f  But  we  need  not  add  to 
these  here.  They  seem  evidently  to  spring  from 
the  remembrance  of  this  first  prophecy,  as  handed 
down  through  the  channel  of  oral  tradition. 

2.  But  while  the  term,  "the  seed  of  the  woman" 
applies  primarily  to  none  so  well  as  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ — who  was  the  son  of  the  woman,  and 
who  was  not  a  partaker  of  Adam's  fall — yet  it  is 
proper  to  understand  it  also  of  all  the  servants  and 
followers  of  Christ.  When  Paul  explains — Gal.  iii. 
16, — that  the  seed  promised  to  Abraham  preemi- 
nently signifies  Christ,  this  does  not  prevent  him 
from  saying  further  that  every  believer  in  Christ  is 
also  of  the  seed  of  Abraham.  Gal.  iii.  26,  29.  A 
man  may  be  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  naturally  by 
his  descent  from  Abraham :  or  he  may  be  of  his 
seed  spiritually  by  being  partaker  of  his  princi- 
ples, especially  of  his  faith.  The  seed  of  the  woman 
and  the  seed  of  the  serpent  do  not  merely  signify 
the  principal  persons  here  named ;  the  followers  of 
Christ  and  the  followers  of  Satan  are  also  meant. 
So  the  Scriptures  frequently  teach  that  wicked  men 
are  the  children  of  the  devil.  "  Ye  are  of  your 
father,  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye 
will  do,"  said  our  Lord  to  the  Jews.  John  viii.  44. 
*  Watson's  Theology,  p.  20.       f  Virgil  Buc.  Ec.  iv. 


120  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

The  cliildren  of  God  and  the  children  of  the  devil 
are  manifest  by  their  principles  and  their  works.  1 
John  iii.  10.  In  this  just  threatening  against  the 
tempter,  the  line  of  distinction  is  drawn  to  run 
through  all  time,  to  divide  "between  him  that 
serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him  not."  Mai. 
iii.  18. 

3.  The  words  of  this  threatening  imply  a  long 
struggle  between  conflicting  parties,  and  the  partial 
power  of  the  wicked  one  to  injure  the  woman's 
seed.  The  serpent  was  to  bruise  the  heel  of  the 
seed  of  the  woman. 

The  fierce  warfare  of  wrong  against  right,  of 
error  against  truth,  of  evil  against  good,  is  here 
foretold.  Herein  are  signified  the  humiliation,  sor- 
rows, and  death  of  the  great  Redeemer.  Satan 
had  the  power  to  assault  the  Mediator ;  to  raise  up 
against  him  cruel  and  bloody  men,  and  to  put  him 
to  a  shameful  death.  But  his  severest  assaults  were 
vain,  and  the  sorest  success  did  no  permanent  in- 
jury to  the  Sufferer.  The  prince  of  darkness  had 
nothing  in  him.  Even  when  he  took  his  life,  the 
cross  was  the  scene  of  triumph,  and  the  grave  could 
not  hold  the  victim.  The  heel  is  not  a  vital  part ; 
and  all  that  Satan  could  effect  against  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God  was  to  as  little  purpose  as  if  a  man 
should  bruise  the  heel  of  his  adversary  with  a  stone. 

And  herein  is  predicted  that  long  conflict  which 
has  ever  since  existed  between  God's  believing 
people  and  their  great  adversary.     From  the  be- 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  121 

ginning  there  has  been  warfare.  Cain  slew  Abel 
his  brother,  ''  because  his  own  works  were  evil  and 
his  brother's  righteous."  1  John  iii.  12.  And  the 
fierceness  of  this  strife  has  filled  the  world  with 
grief.  It  is  true  indeed  that  shame,  and  strife,  and 
violence,  and  wrong,  fill  even  those  portions  of  the 
earth  where  the  sway  of  the  god  of  this  world  is 
least  disputed.  But  Satan  fights  hardest  when  the 
seed  of  the  woman  withstands  him.  The  history  of 
the  church  of  God  is  full  of  the  records  of  this 
most  deadly  strife.  So  a  leader  in  the  sacramental 
host  exhorts  us,  "  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  con- 
cerning the  fiery  trial  that  is  to  try  you."  1  Pet.  iv. 
12.  What  an  arsenal  of  weapons  is  at  the  com- 
mand of  Satan,  and  what  a  catalogue  could  the 
church  furnish  of  the  arms  that  have  been  used 
against  her — lies,  heresies,  vain  philosophy,  subtle 
errors,  earthly  affections,  love,  fear,  ambition,  ava- 
rice, envy,  and  revenge.  Those  that  would  serve 
him  have  been  drawn  to  him  by  gold,  and  lust,  and 
power :  those  that  dare  oppose  him  have  been  the 
subjects  of  manifold  persecutions.  They  have  been 
reviled  by  the  wise,  scorned  by  the  world,  cast  off 
by  near  and  dear  friends,  and  defamed  shamefully 
in  their  most  innocent  doings.  They  have  been 
stoned,  sawn  asunder,  destitute,  afflicted,  banished 
to  deserts,  and  mountains,  and  dens  and  caves; 
they  have  been  cast  to  the  wild  beasts,  beheaded, 
crucified;  they  have  been  racked  with  unheard  of 
tortures,  burned  at  the  stake,  and  dishonoured  in 
11 


122  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

deeds  without  name ;  secluded  in  the  dungeons  of 
the  Inquisition;  exposed  in  the  shame  of  an  Auto 
da  Fe;  in  short,  crucified  by  pagans,  burned  by 
heretics,  drowned  by  atheists,  and  massacred  by 
every  form  of  the  serpent's  seed.  The  time  would 
fail  to  name  the  means ;  the  time  would  fail  to  men- 
tion the  numbers  of  those  whom  Satan  has  slain  for 
the  w^ord  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 

Look  back  upon  the  history  of  the  church  in  the 
light  of  human  reason,  and  we  may  fear  to  enlist 
under  her  banners.  What  an  array  of  sorrows 
and  sufferings  belongs  here  !  Yet  all  these  are  sor- 
rows for  righteousness'  sake ;  and  the  world's  best 
blessings  have  been  bought  with  the  struggles  and 
the  blood  of  the  people  of  Christ.  But  look  on 
these  things  in  the  light  of  faith,  and  how  difi'erent 
it  seems  !  All  these  sorrows  are  but  the  bruising 
of  a  man's  heel.  Magnify  them  if  you  choose,  and 
as  much  as  you  please ;  and  so  long  as  the  prom- 
ises of  a  faithful  God  declare  that  even  in  this  life 
"we  shall  receive  a  hundred  fold  more ;"  that  "the 
sufi'erings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed ;" 
and  that  "  our  light  affliction  which  is  but  for  a 
moment  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,"  we  surely  need  not  re- 
pine. If  the  bruising  of  the  heel  means  so  much 
and  yet  effects  so  little,  the  bruising  of  the  ser- 
pent's head  must  be  his   utter  destruction.     But 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  123 

the   end  is   not  yet.     Happy  are  they  who  endure 
the  cross  in  patient  waiting  for  the  triumph. 

It  is  our  happiness  to  hear  the  gospel  preached 
far  more  plainly  than  in  its  first  intimation  in  dis- 
honoured Eden.  Let  it  not  be  our  greater  folly 
and  guilt  to  neglect  so  great  salvation. 


124  ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE   SENTENCE    UPON   EVE. 

*'  Not  she,  with  treacherous  kiss,  the  Saviour  stung, 
Not  she  denied  him  with  blaspheming  tongue ; 
She,  when  apostles  shrank,  could  danger  brave, 
Last  at  his  cross  and  earliest  at  his  grave." 

We  have  seen  that  the  curse  pronounced  upon 
the  tempter  included  in  it  a  large  blessing  for  sinful 
man.  And  we  should  not  fail  to  admire  the  mercy 
of  God  which  is  thus  declared  to  man,  not  only  in 
advance  of  the  sentence  upon  his  guilt,  but  before 
any  tokens  of  his  repentance.  We  may  now  fur- 
ther see  that  even  the  sentence  of  condemnation, 
like  a  dark  cloud,  whose  bright  edges  give  notice 
that  there  is  light  behind,  is  mingled  with  tokens  of 
Divine  forbearance. 

The  sentence  pronounced  upon  the  woman  is  sim- 
ple and  easily  understood ;  and  the  proof  is  full  and 
abundant  that  it  applies  not  to  Eve  alone,  but  to  the 
entire  succession  of  her  daughters  in  all  ages  since. 
Attachment  to  her  husband,  subjection  to  his  au- 
thority, and  sorrow  in  the  birth  of  her  children,  are 
elements  in  the  common  lot  of  woman.     But  there 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  125 

is  just  reason  for  declaring  that  good  often  springs 
forth  from  these  very  evils,  and  the  sorrows  of  their 
estate  have  often  proved  a  rich  blessing  to  the  fe- 
male sex. 

It  is  a  very  common  remark  that  women  are  more 
religious  than  men.  In  our  congregations,  it  is  a 
very  rare  case  where  the  attendance  of  women  is 
not  larger  than  that  of  men ;  more  women  make  a 
profession  of  piety ;  fewer  women  disgrace  their  pro- 
fession or  decline  from  it ;  and,  upon  the  average, 
their  piety  is  more  serious  and  deeper.  The  female 
sex  have  greatly  the  advantage  in  religious  things, 
if  we  judge  from  the  actual  facts  in  Christian 
churches.  And  in  systems  of  false  religion,  Satan, 
their  author,  seems  to  have  an  especial  spite  against 
the  women.  Made  aware  that  his  cunning  in  tempt- 
ing the  first  woman  is  to  recoil  in  special  destruc- 
tion upon  his  own  head ;  knowing  that  woman  is 
ever  to  effect  much  against  him  ;  and  not  ignorant, 
that  if,  as  at  the  first,  he  can  cast  her  down  to  sin, 
he  can  thus  best  war  against  the  man,  Satan  has 
carried  on  his  warfare  most  resolutely  against  the 
dauditers  of  Eve,  and  wherever  he  rules,  woman  is 
sure  to  be  degraded.  It  is,  doubtless,  also  through 
his  special  enmity  against  woman,  that  among  the 
heathen  the  unnatural  but  prevalent  crime  of  in- 
fanticide is  practised  almost  exclusively  against 
their  female  children.  We  need  not  repeat  what 
was  said  in  a  former  chapter  of  the  tendency  of  the 
Bible  to  speak  kindly  of  woman,  to  elevate  her  con- 
11  * 


126  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

dition,  and  to  bless  the  entire  race  of  man  through 
her  elevation. 

The  very  sorrows  of  woman  have  been  made  sub- 
servient to  her  spiritual  interests,  wherever  the  Bible 
is  known  and  she  is  instructed  in  its  great  teach- 
ings. She  suffers  more  than  man  usually  does ;  and 
the  very  quietness  and  seclusion  of  her  ordinary 
duties  tend  to  make  her  sufferings  of  a  more  pro- 
fitable character.  The  very  independence  which 
man  usually  asserts  is  a  great  disadvantage ;  since 
true  piety  consists  not  in  the  exercise  of  pride,  but 
epecially  in  humility,  meekness,  forbearance,  and 
patience.  The  trials  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  woman 
are  eminently  adapted  to  call  forth  all  these  meeker 
emotions ;  she  has  less  opportunity  to  shake  off 
from  her  the  influence  of  her  cares.  When  men 
are  vexed  and  troubled,  they  go  forth  to  active  du- 
ties in  a  busy,  bustling  world,  and  their  griefs  are 
lost  in  their  cares  for  other  things.  It  is  quite 
otherwise  with  woman.  When  about  her  ordinary 
duties,  she  can  let  her  mind  dwell  upon  serious  or 
afflicting  thoughts ;  the  quiet  of  home  serves  to 
make  her  impressions  deeper ;  and  if  it  sometimes 
happens  that  she  lets  her  troubles  prey  too  much 
upon  her,  because  she  has  less  opportunities  to  throw 
them  off,  or  to  unbosom  them  to  others,  yet  she  is 
frequently  driven  to  tell  her  griefs  at  the  throne  of 
grace — the  sanctuary  for  the  afflicted,  whose  gates 
are  not  shut  either  by  day  or  by  night — and  those 
sorrows  are  made  happy  which  bring  her  to  know 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  127 

the  tender  mercy  of  God.  Let  not  the  daughters 
of  Eve  repine.  Through  sorrow  many  a  suffering 
■woman  has  been  led  to  him  who  dries  the  mourner's 
tears.  Through  sorrow  many  such  have  found  the 
path  to  heaven.  And  many  a  sweet  voice  in  the 
heavenly  choirs  will  sing  eternal  praises  for  earth's 
bitter  hours.  And  the  bitterer  earth  is,  the  sweeter 
the  song  in  heaven  will  be. 

Through  these  sorrows,  sanctified  in  woman's 
experience,  God  brings  a  blessing  upon  the  race. 
For  the  sake  of  the  entire  family  of  man  are  these 
strong  providential  guards  thrown  around  female 
piety.  Children  are  usually  what  their  mothers 
make  them.  The  substantial  character  of  most  men 
is  formed  in  early  life ;  and  in  the  most  important 
period  of  existence,  the  influence  of  the  mother  is 
paramount.  The  cares  and  duties  of  the  father — 
whatever  may  be  his  inclination — keep  him  away 
from  his  children.  But  the  mother's  chief  cares 
are  with  them ;  they  are  almost  constantly  in  her 
presence ;  their  first  lisping  words  they  catch  from 
her  fond  lips ;  they  are  scholars  of  hers  from  the 
very  earliest  age ;  they  watch  every  expression  of 
her  eye ;  imitate  her  in  every  movement ;  and  in- 
terpret and  adopt  her  spirit.  God  has  taken  care 
that  there  shall  be  more  piety  among  women,  be- 
cause he  thus  secures  a  more  careful  education  of 
children  in  pious  lessons.  Children  have  before 
them  the  best  and  not  the  worst  specimens  of  the 
race  for  their  example.     Even  mothers  who  are  not 


128  ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES. 

themselves  pious,  teach  religious  lessons  to  their 
children ;  restrain  them  from  evil ;  wish  them  to 
fear  God ;  and  often  are  led  themselves  to  Christ  by 
responsibilities  and  anxieties  which  'their  children 
awaken.  Few  are  the  men  who  do  not  hold  sacred 
and  dear  the  memory  of  their  mothers. 

*'  My  mother's  voice !     How  often  creeps 

Its  cadence  o'er  my  lonely  hours, 
Like  healing  sent  on  wings  of  sleep 

Or  dew  to  the  unconscious  flowers  ; 
I  can't  forget  her  melting  prayer 

E'en  while  my  pulses  madly  fly, 
And  in  the  still,  unbroken  air 

Her  gentle  tones  come  stealing  by ; 
And  years,  and  sin,  and  manhood  flee, 
And  leave  me  at  my  mother's  knee." 

Surely  this  much  may  be  added  to  these  reflec- 
tions: that  piety  is  the  crowning  virtue  of  female 
character ;  that  no  woman  can  live  in  a  land  puri- 
fied by  the  influence  of  Christianity,  and  can  make 
the  contrast  between  her  condition  and  that  of  her 
unhappy  sisters  in  foreign  lands,  and  yet  keep 
back  her  heart  from  the  great  Kedeemer  here  re- 
vealed, without  incurring  guilt  of  a  fearful  and  pe- 
culiar character.  The  Bible — woman's  benefactor 
— should  be  every  woman's  blessed  instructer.  Jesus 
Christ,  born  of  a  woman,  should  be  every  woman's 
chosen  Saviour.  But  especially,  how  unbecoming 
are  scornful  and  scoflfing  words  against  religion 
upon  woman's  lips !     There  are  some  who  ridicule  re- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  129 

llgion;  ridicule  the  seriousness  of  their  companions; 
ridicule  the  truths  and  the  ordinances  of  God ;  and 
speak  jestingly  of  salvation  and  of  the  things  that 
pertain  to  it.  But  those  who  descend  to  such  guilt 
and  folly  certainly  gain  nothing  to  themselves  of 
good  or  of  honour.  Especially  no  well  taught, 
sensible  man  can  ever  be  pleased  with  scoffs  upon 
female  lips.  The  very  men  who  might  join  in  such 
scorning,  in  the  company  of  reckless  men,  turn 
with  disgust  from  the  cant  of  infidelity  or  the  heart- 
lessness  of  irreligion  in  a  woman.  The  woman  who 
can  speak  flippantly  of  marriage  or  of  the  Bible, 
strikes  from  beneath  her  own  feet  the  bridge  that 
bears  her  above  a  yawning  chasm.  So  even  the 
worldly  poet  before  quoted  expresses  a  just  view  of 
such  a  case. 

*«  Oh,  what  is  woman,  what  her  smile, 

Her  look  of  love,  her  eyes  of  light, 
"What  is  she,  if  her  lips  revile 

The  lowly  Jesus  ?     Love  may  write 
His  name  upon  her  marble  brow, 

And  linger  in  her  curls  of  jet ; 
The  pale  spring  flowers  may  scarcely  bow 

Beneath  her  step  ;  and  yet,  and  yet 
"Without  that  meeker  grace  shall  be, 

A  lighter  thing  than  vanity  !" 


130  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LABOUR. 

"  Oh  mortal  man  who  livest  here  by  toil, 

Do  not  complain  of  this  thy  hard  estate ; 

That  like  an  emmet  thou  must  ever  moil, 
Is  a  sad  sentence  of  an  ancient  date : 
And,  certes,  there  is  reason  for  it  great ; 

For  though  son^etimes  it  makes  thee  weep  and  wail, 
And  curse  thy  day  and  early  drudge  and  late, 

Withouten  that  would  come  a  heavier  bale. 

Loose  life,  unruly  passions,  and  diseases  pale." 

Thomson. 

We  next  consider  some  of  the  facts  connected 
with  the  curse  pronounced  upon  Adam. 

The  Lord  God  declared  a  curse  upon  the  ground 
for  man's  sake.  As  the  earth  was  created  for  man, 
as  he  is  the  only  intelligent,  rational,  and  immortal 
being  upon  it,  so  the  globe  is  specially  adapted  to 
him,  both  in  what  it  has,  and  in  what  it  lacks;  both 
in  its  blessings  and  in  its  curses.  In  the  later 
Scriptures  an  apostle  assures  us  that  through  man's 
sin  the  whole  world  groaneth,  and  the  created  things 
around  us  are  made  subject  to  vanity. 


ADAM   AND   HIS    TIMES.  131 

Yet  as  labour  is  necessary  to  the  happiness  of 
man,  as  it  existed  before  the  fall,  and  as  it  is  only 
upon  man,  the  sinner,  that  God  laid  it  as  a  toilsome 
burden ;  we  may  believe  that  the  curse  spoken 
against  the  ground,  consisted  in  using  for  the  Divine 
purposes  things  which  already  existed,  but  that 
were  not  grievous  until  man  had  fallen  under  God's 
displeasure.  We  need  not  think  that  while  man 
was  innocent  in  the  garden  the  world  had  no  sterile 
spots,  no  noxious  weeds,  no  growth  of  thorns  and 
thistles.  It  is  enough  to  be  assured  that  the  earth 
would  furnish  fertile  grounds  sufficient  for  the 
growing  population  of  mankind ;  that  light  labour 
would  have  sufficed  to  secure  abundant  supplies  for 
the  human  family ;  and  that  no  noxious  or  trouble- 
some growth  of  thorns  and  briers  would  have  cum- 
bered the  ground.  It  seems  not  likely  that  any 
new  plants  were  created  after  the  fall  of  man,  and 
with  a  special  view  to  vex  his  labours  in  tilling  the 
earth.  But  we  know  now  that  weeds  grow  easily  ; 
that  even  the  most  unproductive  seasons  are  suffi- 
ciently fruitful  in  them ;  that  they  are  hard  to  de- 
stroy ;  and  that  they  greatly  increase  the  toils  of 
the  husbandman.  The  immense  abundance  of 
plants  for  which  man  has  learned  no  use ;  their  easy 
spread,  and  that  without  cultivation,  and  even  in 
spite  of  careful  diligence ;  the  sterility  of  the  soil ; 
and  perhaps  the  numerous  dangers  of  frost  and 
drought,  of  worm  and  insect,  of  blight  and  rot, 
which  fill  the  life  of  the  husbandman  with  continual 


132  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

apprehension  ;  may  be  reckoned  among  the  evils  of 
this  first  curse.* 

These  things  all  enter  into  the  toil  of  man.  As 
already  said,  work  belonged  to  him  before  the  fall ; 
even  then  Adam  was  the  keeper  of  the  garden. 
But  a  genial  and  delightful  employment  is  widely 
different  from  a  toilsome  task  ;  and  what  we  can  do 
cheerfully  when  no  disappointments  threaten,  when 
no  useless  growth  supplies  the  place  of  that  for 
which  we  labour,  and  when  we  can  gather  our  full 
sheaves  with  rejoicing  hands,  is  done  with  reluctant 
energy  when  severer  efforts  promise  a  more  doubt- 
ful issue.  The  labour  of  the  husbandman  is  toil, 
wearing  toil,  incessant  toil.  It  is  made  so,  not  only 
by  the  nature  of  his  employment,  and  the  ever  re- 
curring necessity,  that  year  by  year  he  must  do  over 
again  the  things  already  done  ;  but  various  things 
make  this  labour  specially  toilsome.  Sometimes  a 
sterile  soil,  sometimes  imperfect  means  of  cultiva- 
tion, drought  and  frost,  storm   and  flood,   cutting 

*  I  extract  the  following  from  a  newspaper,  without  the 
means  of  deciding  upon  the  truth  of  its  extraordinary  state- 
ments : 

Abundance  of  Weeds. — An  English  botanist  discovered, 
by  careful  examination,  7,600  weed  seeds  in  a  pint  of  clover- 
seed,  12,600  in  a  pint  of  congress-seed,  39,440  in  a  pint  of 
broad  clover,  and  25,500  of  Dutch  clover-seed.  In  a  single 
plant  of  black  mustard  he  counted  over  8,000  seeds,  and  in  a 
Bpecimen  of  charlock  4,000  ;  the  seed  of  a  single  plant  of  com- 
mon dock  produced  4,700  little  docks.  The  white  daisy  has 
over  400  seeds  in  each  flower,  and  sometimes  50  flowers  from 
one  root. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  133 

■worms  and  devouring  insects,  are  the  disadvantages 
against  which  he  must  labour.  Anxiety  for  the 
issue  of  these  toils  hovers  like  a  dark  cloud  over 
every  farm  house  from  seed  time  to  harvest,  and 
from  harvest  to  seed  time.  Every  opening  spring 
is  full  of  forebodings  for  the  coming  harvest ;  nor 
do  the  repeated  answers  of  providence,  usually  so 
much  better  than  the  thoughts  of  man,  serve  to  re- 
press the  new  fears  of  every  recurring  year.  It  is 
not  simply  the  hard  work  of  the  field  that  must  be 
included  in  our  thoughts  of  the  labour  of  culti- 
vating the  earth.  The  solicitude,  the  watchfulness, 
the  responsibility,  the  burden  of  care — all  these 
without  remission  ;  all  these  growing  more  w^eighty 
in  ordinary  human  experience  till  men  no  longer 
have  strength  to  bear  them — these  and  all  that 
they  imply,  are  included  in  the  declaration,  "  In 
the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread." 

We  have  in  this  remarkable  declaration  an  im- 
portant example  of  the  methods  of  Scriptural 
teaching.  No  writing  ever  given  to  man  says  so 
much  in  so  little  compass  as  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
It  is  the  common  custom  with  the  inspired  writers 
to  select  one  striking  example  out  of  a  class  of  doc- 
trines or  duties,  and  to  embody  in  it  the  most  valu- 
able, important,  and  instructive  principles  to  govern 
the  entire  class.  In  the  ten  commandments  we 
have  the  whole  duty  of  man  comprised  in  a  very 
brief  space  ;  and  if  we  take  each  separate  command 
into  consideration,  we  will  find  that  the  mention  of 
12 


134  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

one  matter  of  chief  importance  is  designed  to  in- 
clude under  it  every  minor  matter  belonging  to  the 
same  class  with  it.  Thus  idolatry  is  the  worst  form 
of  malpractice  in  the  worship  of  God ;  disobedience 
to  parents  is  the  worst  form  of  resistance  to  lawful 
authority ;  killing,  the  worst  form  of  violence  to 
man  ;  and  adultery,  the  worst  form  of  impurity. 
The  law  therefore  mentions  these  by  name  ;  but  it 
designs  to  forbid  with  them  every  species  of  in- 
iquity akin  to  them.  So  upon  the  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  we  know  that  covet- 
ousness  is  idolatry,  an  unchaste  look  is  adultery, 
and  hatred  to  a  brother  is  murder.  In  like  manner 
the  Lord's  prayer  endorses  every  needful  principle 
for  our  devotions ;  and  if  we  consider  the  particular 
petitions,  we  may  see  that  every  acceptable  petition 
that  man  should  offer  to  God  may  be  classified  to 
fiill  under  one  or  other  clause  of  this  sixfold  prayer. 
So  there  are  single  parables  spoken  by  our  Lord ; 
and  single  miracles  wrought  by  his  power ;  and 
single  conversions  recorded  in  the  Bible ;  and  single 
sentences  uttered  by  the  inspired  writers,  that  may 
be  justly  interpreted  as  including  every  important 
principle  that  is  needful  to  establish  the  authority 
and  the  grace  of  the  gospel,  or  to  give  instruction 
and  comfort  to  sinful  men. 

Interpreting  these  solemn  words  in  Eden  by  this 
remarkable  characteristic  of  Scriptural  teachings, 
it  cannot  be  called  in  question  that  labour  and  toil 
belong   to  the  sons  of  Adam    in  every  age   and 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  135 

climate  and  in  every  condition  of  life.  Tlie  curse 
is  not  confined  to  the  mere  culture  of  the  earth. 
This  alone  is  named,  not  simply  because  it  was  the 
especial  employment  of  Adam,  but  because  there  is 
no  other  employment  in  human  life  upon  which  man 
is  so  dependent.  We  may  certainly  say  of  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  earth  more  than  of  any  other  human 
duty,  that  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  man's  exis- 
tence. One  single  year  of  sterility  and  barrenness 
of  the  earth's  products  over  all  the  world  would  be 
followed  by  distress  such  as  the  history  of  man  has 
never  seen ;  and  five  years  without  a  harvest  would 
leave  the  world  a  waste,  without  seed  to  sow  for 
coming  years  and  without  a  man  to  need  it.  "  The 
profit  of  the  earth  is  for  all ;  the  king  himself  is 
served  by  the  field."  Ecc.  v.  9.  The  earth  is  the 
common  mother  of  us  all ;  from  her  products  we 
live ;  the  culture  of  the  ground  as  the  most  impor- 
tant kind  of  labour,  is  the  fitting  representative  of 
human  toil. 

It  is  not  alone  the  man  that  tills  the  earth  who 
feels  this  first  curse  of  labour.  We  need  not  here 
make  any  comparisons  of  men's  avocations;  or  at- 
tempt to  show  that  in  this  or  that  line  of  life,  the 
surest  success  and  the  largest  content  will  crown 
our  labours.  While  we  may  simply  and  justly  ac- 
knowdedge  that  honourable,  contented,  successful, 
and  useful  industry  may  as  often  be  found  among 
men  that  till  the  ground  as  anywhere  else  on  earth ; 
what  we  now  say  is  that  this  early  curse   equally 


136  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

belongs  to  all  other  human  labours,  and,  indeed, 
is  inseparable  from  man's  estate.  Weary  limbs, 
and  heavy  hearts,  and  anxious  minds  are  every- 
where upon  the  earth ;  painful  toils,  disappointed 
hopes,  and  fruitless  efforts  form  part  of  every  man's 
experience ;  sorrow  in  labour,  the  sweating  of  the 
face,  and  results  like  to  thorns  and  thistles  are 
found  in  all  our  work.  The  curse  belongs  to  every 
trade,  every  profession,  and  every  time.  With  the 
increase  of  population  in  every  land,  especially  with 
the  advancement  of  the  race  in  the  arts  of  civilized 
life,  the  engagements  of  men  become  more  numer- 
ous ;  distinctions  of  rank  and  wealth  increase  in 
society ;  some  men  never  tan  their  faces  with  the 
glare  of  the  sun,  or  harden  their  hands  with  the 
axe  or  the  plough ;  and  some,  born  to  rank  and  af- 
fluence, are  clothed  in  purple  and  fare  sumptuously 
every  day.  Yet  there  is  no  human  abode  exempt 
from  the  curse  of  the  fall.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to 
judge  that  the  great  Ahasuerus  can  bar  his  palace 
gates  against  anxiety  and  sorrow,  though  he  may 
forbid  sackcloth  to  enter ;  or  that  the  diamond  valve 
of  the  rich  man's  heart  never  opens  at  the  touch  of 
care.  Labour,  corroding  thoughts,  restless  anxie- 
ties, belong  to  man.  The  palace  is  their  abode ; 
they  hover  over  the  couch  of  the  wealthy ;  they  in- 
trude into  the  sleeping  and  the  waking  hours  of  the 
wise  man ;  they  knoAv  no  distinctions  of  rank,  or  place, 
or  power.  Indeed  among  the  compensations  of  Divine 
Providence  which  set  men  substantially  more  upon 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  137 

a  level  with  each  other,  it  has  often  been  noted  that 
more  happiness  and  less  corroding  care  can  be  found 
in  those  members  of  society  who  hold  little  in  pos- 
session, than  among  their  richer  neighbours.  Nor 
is  it  simply  because  men  are  prone  to  be  troubled 
by  things  present,  and  to  look  back  with  regret  to 
the  past,  that  many  a  rich  man  is  ready  to  say  that 
he  was  never  more  happy  than  in  his  earlier  days 
of  poverty  and  cheerful  but  humble  labour. 

We  may  not  overlook  this,  among  the  great 
mercies  of  God,  that  the  sentence  thus  pronounced 
in  Paradise  is  not  purely  a  curse.  This  human  toil 
which  Providence  has  made  so  inseparable  from  hu- 
man life,  may  still,  when  controlled  by  the  fear  of 
God  and  by  wise  views  of  human  duty,  react  as  a 
blessing ;  and  no  man  passes  a  more  miserable  life 
than  he  who  spends  his  time  as  an  idler.  While 
the  rich  have  their  weighty  cares  as  truly  as  the 
poor ;  while  he  that  increaseth  substance  increaseth 
sorrow;  while  through  constant  solicitude  and  anxi- 
eties, a  truly  contented  man  is  a  rare  thing  upon 
the  earth,  we  may  bless  God  that  even  the  curse 
of  labour  is  not  without  its  aspects  of  good. 

We  have  no  kind  of  sympathy  with  those  who 
regard  labour  as  a  menial  or  a  degrading  thing ;  we 
regard  it  as  both  unwise  and  wicked  to  wish  to  live 
without  labour ;  we  have  no  patience  with  those 
who  grasp  after  the  comforts  of  life,  and  yet  are 
ashamed  of  the  honest  industry  by  which  these 
have  been  secured  to  them ;  and  we  treat  that  as 
12* 


138  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

ignorant  folly  that  would  array  one  class  of  labour- 
ers against  another  in  the  arrangements  of  human 
society. 

There  are  many  proper  objects  of  human  indus- 
try ;  not  all  of  equal  importance,  yet  the  least  im- 
portant not  calling  for  any  contempt ;  our  compari- 
sons, indeed,  are  likely  to  be  made  in  ignorance  or 
prejudice.  And  this  is  our  just  rule  of  judgment : 
that  whatever  is  useful  for  man  is  worthy  to  be  held 
in  honour  by  man.  There  is  a  toil  that  pales  the 
cheek,  and  weakens  the  arm,  and  wears  out  this 
tenement  of  flesh,  as  well  as  a  toil  that  bathes  the 
face  in  sweat  and  gives  strength  to  every  muscle. 
And  in  these  times  when  the  busy  industry  of  life 
in  every  department  of  labour  owes  so  much  to  the 
inventive  genius,  and  the  patient  investigation,  and 
the  abstract  thoughts  of  studious  men,  it  is  too  late 
to  draw  invidious  distinctions  between  productive 
and  non-productive  labour.  It  is  high  time  that 
rational  men  should  everywhere  recognize  that  la- 
bour and  thought  are  not  antagonists ;  that  indeed 
that  is  the  happiest  estate  where  they  best  harmon- 
ize together ;  that  every  man  of  mechanical  labour 
should  love  to  think  for  the  sake  of  his  mind,  and 
that  he  may  be  something  more  than  the  horse  he 
drives  or  the  tool  he  uses ;  and  that  every  student, 
for  health's  sake,  and  to  give  vigour  to  his  thoughts, 
should  take  wholesome  exercise  of  body.  But  every 
man  who  has  an  honourable  and  useful  callinor,  and 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  139 

puts  forth  in   it  the  energy  of  a  healthful  life,  de- 
serves to  be  held  in  estimation. 

The  true  idea  of  human  society  is  that  of  a  ma- 
chine of  many  parts,  a  body  of  many  members. 
All  the  parts  of  some  complicated  mechanism  are 
not  of  equal  importance ;  yet  the  movements  of  a 
steam  engine  may  be  stopped  by  the  breaking  of  a 
pin ;  the  safety  of  a  vessel  may  be  put  in  jeopardy 
by  a  flaw  in  a  single  nail  or  rope.  In  the  body,  all 
members  have  not  the  same  office ;  yet  the  suffering 
of  one  member  is  an  injury  to  all ;  and  the  pros- 
perity of  one  member  is  to  the  advantage  of  all. 
There  are  idlers  among  men ;  there  are  those  who 
accomplish  less  than  we  have  reason  to  expect  from 
them ;  and  there  are  those  whose  busy  industry  is 
exerted  to  injure  rather  than  to  benefit  society. 
Let  these  all  be  judged  as  they  deserve.  But  let 
us  acknowledge  that  useful  industry,  wisely  directed 
in  any  engagement  of  life,  confers  honour  and  hap- 
piness upon  men.  It  would  not  be  better  for  any 
man  if  he  could  live  without  labour.  Something  to 
do  is  every  man's  blessing ;  and  in  the  Divine  mercy 
even  this  sentence  upon  man's  sin,  is  not  purely  a 
curse. 


140  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

DEATH. 

We  pursue  further  our  thoughts  upon  the  facts 
implied  in  the  curse  upon  Adam.  The  sentence  of 
Divine  displeasure  next  speaks  of  that  solemn  hour 
"when  he  should  return  to  the  dust  from  which  he 
had  been  formed.  The  tempter's  words  are  vain 
and  false.     Man  must  "surely  die." 

It  is  an  important  inquiry,  What  is  included  in 
that  sentence  which  God  now  pronounced  upon  man, 
as  a  guilty,  fallen  creature  ?  That  the  term  death 
includes  the  dissolution  of  the  bond  that  unites  the 
soul  and  the  body,  and  the  fall  of  the  body  to  the 
earth,  is  plain  from  the  very  words  here  used.  Is 
this  all  it  means  ?  We  may  give  our  thoughts  briefly 
to  this  matter. 

Some  persons  suppose  that  man  is  mortal  by  the 
very  constitution  of  his  being ;  and  that  he  would 
have  met  with  temporal  death,  and  his  body  would 
have  fallen  to  the  dust,  if  even  he  had  never  sinned. 
In  proof  of  their  view,  they  argue  that  the  death 
of  the  irrational  creatures  is  a  necessary  part  of 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  141 

their  conditions  of  life ;  that  death  enters  into  the 
arrangements  of  providence  as  truly  as  life ;  that 
their  succession  is  apparently  needful  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  world ;  that  we  have  abundant  proof 
that  whole  races  have  filled  the  earth  and  perished 
long  anterior  to  any  evidence  of  man's  existence 
upon  the  globe ;  and  that  this  body  of  man  is  of 
the  dust  and  corruptible,  and  ever  changing  as  it 
tends  to  the  earth  again.  Yet  there  are  many 
reasons  which  prevent  us  from  receiving  such  views, 
more  powerful  than  any  arguments  in  their  favour. 
"VYe  do  not  believe  in  the  mortality  of  man  in  his 
first  estate  of  innocence.  It  is  not  necessarily  true 
that  because  death  occurred  to  the  irrational  crea- 
tures, therefore  intelligent  and  rational  man  was 
also  subject  to  it :  this  fleshly  body  could  have  un- 
dergone the  changes  needful  to  fit  it  for  a  life  in 
heaven  without  meeting  death ;  (see  1  Cor.  xv.  51 ;) 
the  actual  transition  of  Enoch  and  Elijah,  at  a  sub^ 
sequent  period  of  the  history,  points  out  to  us  an 
actual  way  in  w^hich  all  needful  changes  might  occur  to 
man's  constitution ;  and  the  constant  teachings  of 
the  Scriptures  that  death  entered  by  sin,  and  as  the 
wages  of  sin,  and  passed  upon  all  men  by  reason  of 
sin,  seem  to  forbid  that  we  should  entertain  any 
other  than  the  ordinary  view. 

But  while  we  believe  that  the  race  of  man  would 
have  known  no  such  thing  as  the  fall  of  the  body 
to  the  dust,  had  we  remained  sinless,  we  can  easily 
see  that  the  chief  element  after  all  of  such  an  event 


142  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

lies  in  the  cause  of  it.  Death  is  serious,  revolting, 
humiliating ;  so  much  so  as  to  form  an  argument  to 
prove  that  no  such  grief  would  ever  have  been  laid 
upon  the  sinless.  To  breathe  out  our  life ;  to  lay 
this  cherished  body  down  to  darkness  and  corrup- 
tion ;  to  part  thus  from  those  that  have  been  near 
and  dear  to  us,  is  no  light  sorrow,  even  when  alle- 
viated by  the  hope  or  the  knowledge  that  the  sepa- 
ration is  not  final.  But  when  we  magnify  most  all 
the  grief  of  such  an  event,  it  must  still  be  confessed 
that  the  cause  of  death  is  the  circumstance  of  chief 
aggravation.  ''  The  sting  of  death  is  sin."  Take 
away  the  sense  of  sin  unpardoned,  and  man  can 
look  death  in  the  face  with  composure ;  or  even  with 
triumph  conquer  this  stern  foe.  There  is  in  human 
estimation  the  widest  difference  between  the  death 
of  the  craven  and  fiendish  Robespierre  and  that  of 
the  noble  and  patriotic  Sir  William  Wallace,  though 
they  both  died  by  the  hand  of  the  public  execu- 
tioner. The  world  looks  differently  upon  them, 
and  these  men  themselves  would  feel  that  the  mere 
publicity  of  an  execution  was  not  its  chief  shame. 
The  severest  pang  of  death  belongs  to  its  nature 
as  a  deserved  sentence  of  law.  This  is  the  force 
of  the  Apostle's  word ;  "  The  sting  of  death  is 
sin." 

But  if  the  true  pang  of  death  lies  in  its  puni- 
tive nature,  we  may  justly  include  under  it  all  the 
sufferings  that  have  flowed  from  sin.  The  separa- 
tion between  our  first  parents  and  God ;  the  loss  of 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  143 

confidence ;  the  interruption  of  intercourse  ;  and  all 
the  results  flowing  from  sin  so  long  as  the  creature 
remains  under  the  displeasure  of  his  Creator,  are  to 
be  reckoned  under  this  single  but  comprehensive 
term,  death.  As  the  life  promised  to  obedient 
Adam  included  spiritual  and  eternal  well  being ; 
so  the  death  threatened  was  its  reverse.  Every 
blessing  of  God's  favour  upon  man  obedient  would 
surely  have  been  the  reward  of  obedience;  nor  does, 
nor  will  man  sufifer  aught  in  this  life,  or  in  .that 
which  is  to  come,  in  a  judicial  manner,  but  as  the 
wages  of  sin. 

God  pronounced  upon  Adam  the  sentence  of 
which  he  had  been  forewarned.  From  that  time, 
and  even  from  the  first  moment  of  transgression, 
began  the  curse.  The  reign  of  temporal  death 
was  soon  set  up ;  and  how  vain  is  it  for  us  even  to 
imagine  the  fearful  forms  in  which  it  has  ruled  the 
earth  !  When  death  comes  in  its  mildest  aspects, 
and  alleviated  by  the  kindest  sympathies  of  human 
love,  it  is  a  sad  and  serious  event.  We  cannot 
enter  the  chamber  over  w^hich  the  dark  shadow  of 
his  approach  is  already  cast ;  we  cannot  look  upon 
the  victim  of  death's  triumph ;  we  cannot  lay  away 
the  loved  remains  in  their  last  resting  place,  without 
serious  thoughts  ;  and  we  know  that  when  the  time 
comes  for  any  of  us  to  meet  this  foe,  the  conflict 
will  seem  as  new  and  strange,  as  if  no  man  else  had 
ever  struggled  with  this  enemy.  But  in  what  va- 
rious forms  has  death  come  to  the  family  of  man ! 


144  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

In  how  many  sad  scenes  have  we  ourselves  mingled, 
as  we  have  entered  the  house  of  mourning !  We  have 
seen  the  infant  of  days,  the  blooming  youth,  the  vig- 
orous man,  and  the  hoary  head  of  age  touched  by  the 
stern  hand  of  this  unsparing  and  indiscriminate  curse. 
We  have  seen  his  slow  approaches  by  lingering 
disease,  and  his  rapid  stroke  by  accident  or  crime. 
And  with  the  well  known  population  of  the  world 
before  our  eyes,  how  serious  is  the  thought  that 
with  every  minute  of  time  death  strikes  down 
scores  of  victims ;  and  that  with  every  hour  spent 
in  the  sanctuary  a  larger  number  of  souls  than  sit 
with  us  in  the  house  of  mercy  have  passed  into 
eternity ! 

♦'  Ah  little  think  the  gay,  licentious  proud, 
Whom  pleasure,  pomp,  and  affluence  surround  ; 
They  who  their  thoughtless  hours  in  giddy  mirth, 
And  wanton,  often  cruel,  riot  waste ; 
Ah  little  think  they  while  they  dance  along, 
How  many  feel,  this  very  moment,  death, 
And  all  the  sad  variety  of  pain  ! 
How  many  sink  in  the  devouring  flood, 
Or  more  devouring  flame  !" 

Who  could  bear  to  read  the  dark  and  blotted 
page  that  should  record  the  scenes  of  suffering  and 
death  that  occur  all  over  the  earth  upon  any  single 
day  of  man's  history !  And  when  we  multiply 
these  days  by  years,  and  these  years  by  centuries, 
what  an  appalling  aggregate  do  we  bring  before  us ; 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  145 

and  how  large  seems  the  fearful  curse  that  was  in- 
troduced into  our  world  b}'^  sin ! 

Nor  should  we  reckon  death  only  among  the  woes 
thus  brought  upon  our  earthly  existence.  We  must 
add  with  the  poet 

*'  All  the  thousand  nameless  ills, 
That  one  incessant  struggle  renders  life 
One  scene  of  toil,  of  suffering." 

"  How  many  drink  the  cup 
Of  baleful  grief,  or  eat  the  bitter  bread 
Of  misery ! 

How  many  shake 
"With  all  the  fiercer  tortures  of  the  mind, 
Unbounded  passion,  madness,  guilt,  remorse  !" 

For  sin  brings  forth  sin ;  and  grief  and  woe  are  its 
sad  fruits  everywhere. 

That  is  a  most  serious  chapter  in  the  history  of 
man,  that  a  most  convincing  proof  that  death  and 
sin  stand  in  close  union,  which  would  record  the 
victories  of  death  over  man  by  the  hand  of  his  fel- 
low man.  How  early  the  reign  of  violence  began  ! 
The  first  born  of  Adam  was  the  first  murderer : 
and  the  very  words  by  which  human  language 
has  classified  those  deeds  of  blood — homicide,  and 
regicide,  and  fratricide,  and  parricide,  and  matricide, 
and  infanticide,  and  suicide — give  proof  that  sin 
bears  its  deadly  fruits  through  all  the  flowing  veins 
of  human  society.  And  what  can  we  say  of  the 
wars  that  have  desolated  the  earth,  and  that  with 
all  their  bad  passions  have  deluged  cities  and  lands 
13 


146  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

with  blood,  but  that  they  are  the  legitimate  offspring 
of  the  sin  of  man  ? 

Sin,  which  has  thus  widely  separated  man 
from  innocence  and  from  God,  throws  its  dark 
shadow  forward  beyond  the  life  that  now  is.  Surely 
if  death  is  itself  the  fruit  of  sin,  the  fruit  of  death 
cannot  be  reconciliation  to  an  offended  God.  If 
sinful  man  is  still  immortal,  he  is  immortal  as  a  sin- 
ner ;  death  itself,  which  is  laid  upon  him  as  a  curse, 
has  no  such  purifying  power  as  to  restore  him  to  his 
estate  of  innocence,  and  to  prepare  him  for  the 
holy  and  everlasting  service  of  God.  We  may  not 
only  reason  thus  ;  we  may  not  only  deny  that  any 
proof  exists  that  the  fall  of  the  body  to  the  earth 
exhausts  the  curse  of  God's  broken  law ;  but  we 
may  appeal  to  the  more  explicit  declarations  of  the 
subsequent  Scriptures.  These  declare  no  new  sen- 
tence of  an  offended  God ;  but  simply  interpret  in 
plainer  terms  the  judgments  of  God  against  sin. 
The  sinner  who  bears  the  curse  of  death  in  all  the 
dread  meaning  of  the  term,  shall  never  see  God's 
face  in  peace ;  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment ;  shall  never  have  forgiveness  either  in  this 
life  or  in  the  life  to  come ;  shall  be  punished  with 
everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power.  These  are 
not  man's  thoughts,  without  reason,  without  right, 
without  authority,  and  without  importance.  They 
are   the   serious    declarations    of    God's    inspired 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  IIT 

prophets ;  they  are  spoken  more  plainly  and  repeat- 
edly by  none  than  by  the  incarnate  Son  of  God 
himself;  and  they  fully  justify  the  usual  faith  of  the 
church  of  God,  that  death  temporal,  spiritual,  and 
eternal  is  the  wages  of  man's  sin. 


148  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  CURSE  UPON  THE  RACE. 

"On  all  his  sons 
Through  every  age  the  sad  inheritance 
Of  sin  and  death  entailed." 

Hayes. 

It  cannot  be  called  in  question  that  the  evils  in- 
cluded in  the  curse  of  Eden,  as  thus  far  considered, 
were  designed  to  come  not  only  upon  our  guilty 
first  parents,  but  also  upon  all  their  posterity,  "  de- 
scending from  them  by  ordinary  generation."  The 
sorrows  and  subjection  of  Eve  belong  to  all  her 
daughters;  the  earth  still  brings  forth  thorns  and 
briers  for  each  new  generation ;  the  toil  and  anxiety 
of  labour  yet  rests  on  every  man ;  and  death  reigns 
in  all  the  abodes  of  Adam's  children.  These  things 
may  be  justly  reckoned  among  the  facts  of  human 
history. 

And  there  are  other  facts  which  ought  to  be  re- 
cognized as  such  by  every  candid  and  observant 
man.  First  among  them  we  may  reckon  the  uni- 
versal sinfulness  of  the   race.     This  fact  has  two 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  149 

important  aspects  which  we  may  distinctly  notice. 
First,  it  is  a  truth  that  men  are  universally  sinners ; 
and  second,  this  sinfulness  of  the  race  stands  con- 
nected with  the  sin  of  Adam.  So  the  Scriptures 
expressly  say,  "By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed  upon 
all  men  for  that  all  sinned."  The  nature  of  the 
connection  between  the  first  man  and  his  race  shall 
be  the  subject  of  our  subsequent  investigations. 
Now  we  speak  simply  of  the  facts  in  the  case ; 
leaving  the  principles  involved  in  them  to  those 
later  thoughts. 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  prove  that  where- 
ever  man  is,  sin  is,  because  no  candid  and  intelli- 
gent mind  will  be  disposed  to  deny  the  sad  fact. 
Not  only  are  the  declarations  of  the  sacred  writers  ex- 
plicit upon  this  point,  when  they  affirm  that  all  flesh 
is  corrupt,  that  there  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one, 
and  that  there  is  not  a  just  man  upon  the  earth 
that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not;  but  there  are 
manifold  arguments  which  may  be  drawn  from  our 
own  observation  to  prove  the  universality  of  man's 
sin. 

Dr.  Dwight  in  his  System  of  Theology  has  a  dis- 
course upon  this  subject  in  which,  after  speaking  of 
the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures,  he  adduces  these 
further  proofs. 

1.  The  laws  of  all  nations  prove  the  sinful  cha- 
racter of  man.     Laws  are  chiefly  to  restrain   and 

punish  sin.     Necessity  forces  every  nation  to  adopt 
13  * 


150  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

them ;  to  invent  severe  penalties  for  crimes ;  to  use 
all  watchfulness  against  them.  Man  needs  laws, 
courts,  judges,  bonds,  locks,  jails,  gibbets,  because 
sin  everywhere  abounds ;  and  yet  in  no  single  na- 
tion on  the  face  of  the  earth  have  these  things  ever 
proved  effectual  to  stop  men  from  sinning.  The 
sinfulness  of  man  is  cunning  enough  to  escape  the 
most  watchful  police ;  bold  enough  to  dare  the  se- 
verest punishments ;  deep  enough  to  outlast  the 
longest  efforts  of  reform.  All  these  things  have 
failed  to  exterminate  a  single  sin.  In  a  virtuous 
world  none  of  these  things  would  be  needed ;  and 
their  universal  existence  proves  man's  universal  sin. 

2.  The  religions  of  all  nations  prove  the  same 
thing.  Every  system  of  religion  has  its  ideas  of 
expiation.  Whether  sacrifices,  offerings,  pilgrim- 
ages, ablutions,  or  penances,  the  conscience  of  man 
was  ever  burdened  and  guilt  was  ever  confessed, 
where  these  were  found. 

3.  The  writings  of  all  nations,  who  have  had  any 
writings,  prove  man's  universal  sin.  History, 
though  often  partial,  has  always  described  man  as 
evil  towards  God  and  as  unjust  and  cruel  towards 
man.  Moral  and  philosophical  writings,  even  those 
that  oppose  this  very  doctrine,  not  to  speak  of  other 
writings,  have  yet  borne  strong  testimony  to  its 
truth  by  the  very  efforts  made  to  disprove  it ;  while 
all  other  writings,  as  poems,  and  works  of  fiction, 
owe  all  their  interest  to  the  just  recognition  of 
man's  universal  wickedness.     Men  do  not  care  to 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  151 

read  any  poem  or  novel  which  introduces  a  perfect 
character ;  for  such  a  character  is  seen  at  once  to 
be  unnatural. 

4.  The  conversation  of  all  men  is  proof  of  man's 
sin.  All  men  charge  others  with  sin,  and  very  few 
profess  themselves  sinless.  Those  who  do  this  gain 
little  credit  for  their  intelligence  or  sincerity ;  and 
the  best  of  men  are  usually  the  most  humble  in  ac- 
knowledging their  shortcomings. 

5.  The  history  of  the  race  has  failed  to  record  a 
single  instance  of  a  pure  and  spotless  man,  with  the 
sole  exception  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  promised 
Seed  of  the  woman. 

6.  The  doctrine  of  man's  universal  sinfulness  is 
proved  to  every  man  who  examines  truly  his  own 
character. 

Every  man  has  his  serious  apprehensions  concern- 
ing his  future  state;  every  man  knows  that  he  does 
not  perform  his  whole  duty ;  every  man  is  conscious 
that  he  has  committed  many  sins ;  every  man  finds 
many  difficulties  in  refraining  from  sin  and  in  doing 
right.  Every  man  would  be  ashamed  to  tell  his 
secret  thoughts  to  his  nearest  friend,  and  every  man 
knows  that  he  is  a  sinner  before  the  searching  eye 
of  God. 

The  more  fully  such  arguments  are  expanded  and 
considered,  the  more  convincing  is  the  dreadful 
proof  that  man  everywhere  is  vile.  We  are  a  sin- 
ful race — sin  and  misery  have  always  and  every- 
where abounded  upon  the  earth.     The  sinfulness  of 


152  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

man  pertains  not  alone  to  one  age,  but  to  every  age ; 
to  one  nation,  but  to  every  nation ;  to  a  few  persons 
in  each  community,  but  to  every  man  and  through 
all  his  life. 

This  sinfulness  of  man  forms  a  part  of  man's 
very  nature.  We  speak  of  this  as  a  fact  to  be  re- 
cognized, just  as  we  recognize  the  rational  and 
moral  nature  of  man.  No  one  questions  that  an 
infant  child  is  a  being  of  a  reasonable  nature ;  and 
this  certainly  not  because  of  any  exercise  of  reason 
on  the  part  of  the  child.  We  reckon  the  child  a 
rational  being,  because  it  belongs  to  a  race  of  ra- 
tional beings ;  and  because  of  almost  universal  ex- 
perience that  in  the  growth  and  development  of 
the  child,  he  will  prove  himself  possessed  of  under- 
standing and  will,  of  affections  and  conscience. 
The  rare  instances  of  idiotic  children  have  no  effect 
to  weaken  our  conviction  that  the  nature  of  man  is 
rational.  But  it  is  no  more  true  that  with  the 
growth  of  every  child  we  shall  find  evidence  of  a 
rational  nature,  than  that  we  shall  find  evidence  of  a 
depraved  nature.  Facts  prove  that  the  nature  of 
man  is  corrupt,  as  plainly  as  they  prove  that  man 
is  a  moral  and  reasonable  being. 

Facts  prove  that  the  nature  of  man  is  en- 
tirely depraved.  Many,  indeed,  object  to  the  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity,  just  as  they  do  to  all  the 
doctrines  pertaining  to  our  union  with  Adam, 
through  a  perversion  of  the  terms  used  to  express 
them.     We   do  not  mean  by  total  depravity  that 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  153 

every  man  is  as  -wicked  as  he  can  be.  In  this  sense, 
even  Satan  is  not  totally  depraved,  since  his  is  an 
existence  of  increasing  sinfulness.  We  say  a  man 
is  a  total  bankrupt  when  he  is  unable  to  pay  his 
debts ;  but  we  can  recognize  that  some  bankrupts 
are  far  more  deeply  involved  than  others.  By  total 
depravity  we  mean  the  depravity  of  the  entire  man 
— of  the  soul  in  all  its  powers.  It  is  not  the  de- 
pravity of  the  will,  while  the  conscience  is  fully 
faithful  to  its  duty ;  not  the  corruption  of  the  affec- 
tions, while  the  understanding  clearly  discerns  the 
truth  and  the  memory  is  faithful  to  retain  it.  But 
all  the  powers  of  the  mind  are  affected  by  the  sin- 
fulness of  man.  His  understanding  is  darkened ; 
his  affections  are  called  forth  easily  towards  evil 
things  ;  he  easily  treasures  up  in  his  memory  cor- 
rupt and  delusive  things ;  his  imagination  is  easily 
inflamed  by  corrupting  ideas ;  his  will  is  prone  to 
every  evil.  There  is  no  natural  disposition  on  the 
part  of  man  to  love  God,  or  to  render  righteous 
obedience  to  his  law.  God  made  him  upright. 
Then  his  delight  was  in  God ;  he  held  communion 
with  him ;  he  knew  no  bias  to  evil.  When  we 
speak  then  of  total  depravity,  we  mean  the  entire 
absence  of  that  righteousness  which  originally  be- 
longed to  man,  and  the  corruption  of  the  entire  na- 
ture, without  including  the  actual  transgressions 
which  indeed  proceed  from  this  depravity,  but  which 
are  clearly  to  be  distinguished  from  it. 

It  is  amocg  the  facts  of  which  we  now  speak,  that 


154  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

the  whole  nature  of  man  not  only  falls  short  of 
that  uprightness  in  which  Adam  was  created ;  not 
only  is  indisposed  to  spiritual  good,  but  is  made 
opposite  to  it ;  is  wholly  inclined  to  all  evil ;  "  is 
very  far  gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  is  of 
his  own  nature  inclined  to  evil."  Of  this  speaks 
David  when  he  says,  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  in- 
iquity; and  our  Lord  Jesus  when  he  affirms,  That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ;  and  Paul,  when 
he  declares  that  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God.  And  the  solemn  and  repeated  declarations 
of  the  Scriptures  are  confirmed,  as  we  see  how  averse 
men  are  to  the  spiritual  doctrines  of  the  gospel ; 
how  many  constant  restraints  are  needful  to  keep 
even  children  from  forming  the  most  corrupt  habits ; 
how  easy,  we  may  expressively  say,  how  natural 
is  every  evil  thing  among  the  children  of  men ! 
We  acknowledge  that  there  is  great  diversity  in 
human  wickedness.  The  length  of  life  and  the 
number  of  their  transgressions  may  be  greater  in 
some  men  than  in  others.  All  men  are  alike  in 
this,  that  all  are  averse  from  God  and  prone  to 
evil ;  but  the  progress  made  in  evil  is  quite  a  dif- 
ferent matter. 

We  speak  of  these  things  as  facts  in  the  history 
of  man,  and  we  do  not  now  attempt  to  give  any  ex- 
planation of  them ;  to  enter,  as  men  would  say,  upon 
the  philosophy  of  these  matters.  This  indeed  it  is 
our  privilege  to  do ;  this  we  design  to  do.  We  be- 
lieve that  the  facts  are  furnished  us  in  order  to  the 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  15S 

just  understanding  of  the  truth  upon  the  principles 
of  sound  philosophy.  Let  us  now  simply  endeavour 
to  notice  a  few  things  which  enter  into  the  process 
of  such  a  philosophy. 

1.  It  is  acknowledged  by  the  wisest  men  that  all 
sound  philosophy  consists  in  observing  and  classify- 
ing all  the  facts  of  any  subject;  and  from  these 
facts  to  learn  the  principles  from  which  the  facts 
arise.  It  is  not  for  us  to  invent,  but  to  discover 
laws.  Nor  is  it  always  an  easy  thing  to  reduce  all 
the  observed  facts  into  entire  consistency  with  each 
other.  Yet  the  facts  are  right;  and  the  apparent 
inconsistency  between  them  must  be  attributed  to 
ignorance,  or  inexperience  and  want  of  wisdom  on 
the  part  of  the  philosopher. 

2.  The  facts  of  which  we  now  speak  are  plainly 
true  in  the  history  of  man,  and  lie  open  to  the 
notice  of  every  one.  It  is  injustice  to  this  subject 
to  allege  that  only  those  who  receive  the  Scriptures 
as  the  word  of  God  are  bound  to  believe  these 
things.  The  Scriptures  do  speak  explicitly  on  these 
topics;  and  their  utterances  should  indeed  be  satis- 
factory to  every  Christian.  Yet  it  is  just  for  us  to 
say  that  all  these  facts  of  man's  condition  depend 
upon  no  line  of  historical  proof,  even  as  handed 
down  in  the  church  of  God;  but  every  man  may 
see  them  before  his  own  eyes.  They  rest  not  upon 
the  truth  of  the  Bible  or  of  the  Christian  religion ; 
but  they  force  themselves  upon  the  notice  of  those 
who  profess  any  religion  or  none.     That  the  Bible 


156  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

declares  any  truth,  does  not  prevent  ns  from  no- 
ticing the  independent  proofs  of  it  from  other 
sources.  These  facts  connected  with  the  sinfulness 
and  misery  of  man's  estate  must  be  noticed  by 
every  observant  mind ;  and  let  a  man's  religious 
opinions  be  what  they  may,  his  philosophy  should 
embrace  these  facts,  and  give  some  explanation  of 
them. 

3.  We  are  not  to  expect  that  any  explanation  of 
these  difficulties  will  be  perfectly  satisfactory.  In- 
deed, philosophers,  who  are  wise  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world,  assure  us  that  a  full  explanation  of  any  thing 
is  an  impossibility.  A  professedly  scientific  journal, 
having  the  largest  circulation  and  influence,  and 
perhaps  the  highest  practical  ability  of  any  in  this 
country,  in  a  recent  editorial  holds  this  language : 
"  Nothing  can  be  fully  explained.  In  every  depart- 
ment of  knowledge,  if  we  go  a  few  steps  from  that 
which  is  visible  upon  the  surface,  we  come  to  abso- 
lute mystery,  which  no  man  can  explain.  Ask  the 
most  learned  surgeon  to  explain  the  motion  of  the 
hand.  He  tells  you,"  ....  of  the  muscles,  and 
nerves,  and  brain  ;  but  "  if  you  ask  him  how  the 
brain  acts  upon  the  nerve,  and  the  nerve  upon  the 
muscle,  he  can  tell  you  no  more  than  can  the 
smallest  child  or  the  most  ignorant  savage.  What 
the  nervous  influence  is  ....  is  known  to  God, 
but  it  is  not  known  by  any  of  the  children  of  men." 
And  after  illustrative  expressions,  the  conclusion  of 
the  writer  is  :     "If  we  attempt  to  understand  tho- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  157 

roughly  any  fact  whatever  which  comes  under  our 
observation,  we  shall  find  that  a  few  steps  will  bring 
us  to  the  dark  gulf  of  profound  and  unfathomed 
mystery."* 

If  these  are  unquestioned  truths  of  human  phi- 
losophy in  regard  to  natural  sciences,  much  less 
may  we  expect  fully  to  understand  those  far  more 
difficult  matters  which  link  the  mind  and  soul  of 
man  to  the  spiritual  and  eternal  world.  It  is  pre- 
sumption for  any  man  to  suppose  that  he  can  clear  a 
topic  like  this  of  all  its  difficulties.  When  we  learn 
all  we  can  of  these  deep  things  of  man's  sinfulness, 
we  will  still  be  unable  to  explain  what  we  may  much 
desire  to  know. 

4.  What  then  we  judge  is  this  :  That  the  ex- 
planation which  we  receive  from  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures respecting  the  sin  of  man,  in  its  origin,  and 
in  all  its  aspects  and  bearings,  is  the  very  simplest, 
clearest,  and  most  satisfactory  that  has  ever  been 
proposed ;  at  the  same  time  that  it  stands  con- 
nected with  other  teachings  the  most  excellent  that 
man  has  ever  received.  The  lessons  we  receive 
from  the  word  of  God  do  not  solve  all  the  diffi- 
culties which  occur  to  our  mind ;  but  there  are  less 
difficulties  attending  the  true  solution  than  any 
other.  And  especially  we  may  say  that  the  signal 
clearness  with  which  the  Apostle  Paul  illustrates 
the  great  subject  of  man's  salvation,  not  only  sets 

*  Scientific  American,  Nov.  5,  1859. 
14 


158  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

clearly  before  our  minds  the  true  Scriptural  doc- 
trine concerning  the  sinfulness  of  man,  but  may 
lead  us  to  rejoice  in  the  infinite  wisdom  of  Divine 
providence  and  grace,  which  we  may  trace  both  in 
man's  ruin  and  his  recovery. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  159 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

PRELIMINARY  STATEMENTS. 

"We  have  before  this  had  occasion  to  draw  the  line 
of  distinction  between  the  true  teachings  of  these 
earlier  records,  and  the  knowledge  drawn  from  them 
by  those  who  at  first  received  them.  We  do  not 
profess  to  know  how  much  Adam,  or  Moses,  or 
David,  or  any  Old  Testament  believer  understood 
of  the  truths  revealed  to  them ;  but  we  judge  of 
these  things  much  as  we  do  of  the  knowledge  of 
man  in  other  than  religious  things.  It  is  one  thing 
to  trace  the  progress  of  human  opinions  in  any  sci- 
ence ;  and,  however  interesting  this  may  be,  it  is 
another,  and  a  far  better  thing,  to  comprehend  that 
science,  as  we  enjoy  better  opportunities  for  learn- 
ing what  it  really  teaches.  In  regard  to  the  science 
of  Astronomy,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  laws  and 
phenomena  of  the  heavenly  bodies  were  the  same 
before  the  eyes  of  Adam  as  before  our  eyes ;  and  thus 
all  the  true  teachings  of  the  starry  heavens  were 
entirely  consistent  as  he  saw  them  with  what  we 
learn  in  later  times.  The  earth  revolved  around 
the  sun ;  eclipses  occurred  as  regularly ;  the  laws 


160  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

of  gravitation,  of  electricity,  of  light,  were  the 
same  ;  the  forces  that  exist  now  existed  then  ;  and 
God  wrought  before  and  around  men  just  as  he  does 
now.  If  we  had  the  account  of  an  eclipse  clearly 
and  plainly  recorded  as  occurring  five  thousand 
years  ago,  our  astronomers  would  receive  the  facts 
as  true.  But  the  ancient  astronomer  who  could  be 
trusted  for  what  he  saw,  did  not  understand  the  true 
principles  of  the  science  as  they  are  understood 
now ;  and  therefore  our  astronomers  from  the  same 
sight  would  gain  far  more  true  knowledge.  If  even 
we  say  that  the  invention  of  the  telescope  has  been 
like  a  new  revelation  of  the  starry  worlds,  enabling 
the  earthly  observers  to  discern  more  clearly  what 
the  skies  reveal ;  yet  even  the  telescope  has  not 
contradicted  any  of  the  teachings  which  the  heavens 
had  before  given.  We  see  new  stars ;  we  see  the 
same  stars,  that  men  formerly  saw,  with  greater 
clearness ;  we  have  many  misapprehensions  cor- 
rected; but  we  can  justly  say  that  the  telescope  has 
revealed  no  inconsistencies  between  the  earlier  and 
the  later  teachings  of  the  starry  heavens. 

What  the  telescope  is  to  astronomy  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  to  religion ;  in  part  a  revelation  of  new 
things  ;  in  part  a  clearer  exposition  of  facts  and 
principles  as  old  as  the  knowledge  of  man. 

Now,  while  it  is  a  great  thing  for  men  to  under- 
stand the  profound  principles  of  the  works  and 
ways  of  God,  it  is  interesting  to  reflect  that  the 
ordinary  benefits  derived  by  man  from  his  works 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  161 

and  providence  depend  less  than  we  often  think 
upon  the  depths  of  man's  philosophy.  The  know- 
ledge of  man  now  is  greater  than  in  former  ages. 
Man  has  investigated  the  phenomena  of  light ;  un- 
derstands many  of  its  laws,  its  beautiful  refractions, 
and  its  importance  to  growth  and  life ;  yet  doubt- 
less the  light  was  as  pleasant  to  Adam,  the  rainbow 
as  beautiful  to  Noah,  and  the  scenery  as  delightful 
in  Canaan  to  Abraham  and  David  as  to  any  of  their 
wiser  children  since.  Modern  chemistry  has  ana- 
lyzed our  food,  investigated  the  elementary  princi- 
ples of  the  various  kinds,  and  told  us  the  nutritive 
properties  they  severally  possess  ;  and  yet  we  can- 
not doubt  that  food  tasted  as  sweet  and  proved  just 
as  nourishing  to  men  who  never  heard  of  chem- 
istry; as  now  indeed  the  child  or  the  fool  can 
enjoy  life  along  side  of  the  wisest  man.  The  ig- 
norant, who  know  nothing  of  philosophy,  can 
use  the  laws  of  philosophy  to  much  the  same  prac- 
tical advantage  as  those  who  give  their  careful  study 
to  these  things;  indeed  the  wisest  men  are  con- 
stantly using  principles  they  do  not  comprehend ; 
and  it  is  through  the  use  of  them  we  learn  to  know 
them. 

Men  use  abundantly  the  laws  they  do  not  under- 
stand. We  do  not  undervalue  knowledge ;  but  the 
sun  shines  as  clearly  upon  those  who  do  and  those 
who  do  not  understand  astronomy ;  the  air  breathes 
as  healthfully  to  those  who  can  and  those  who  can- 
not analyze  it;  and  human  governments  are  vain- 


162 ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

able  alike  to  the  statesman  who  can  argue  learnedly 
upon  their  great  principles,  and  to  the  humblest  citi- 
zen who  cannot  argue  about  them.  The  blood 
coursed  as  freely  through  every  man's  veins  for 
thousands  of  years  before  its  circulation  was  dis- 
covered ;  the  law  of  gravitation  has  been  the  same 
since  God  made  the  worlds,  but  the  solution  of  a 
thing  so  simple  and  so  often  seen  as  the  fall  of  an 
acorn  to  the  earth,  is  but  very  recent  in  the  world's 
history.  But  there  is  no  need  to  multiply  illustra- 
tions. 

Knowledge  is  excellent.  But  men  have  always 
known  facts  better  than  they  have  known  princi- 
ples ;  they  learn  principles  from  facts ;  they  have 
always  used  principles  they  did  not  comprehend ; 
and  they  may  enjoy  privileges  they  have  never 
thought  about. 

When  we  affirm  that  the  earliest  teachings  of  any 
science  are  the  same  as  the  later  teachings,  it  is  no 
objection  that  men  have  only  understood  these 
things  lately.  Nor  is  it  any  objection  to  the  true 
teachings  of  religion  in  any  age  that  we  comprehend 
them  only  by  the  aid  of  the  later  portions  of  God's 
word.  The  true  question  in  regard  to  biblical  in- 
struction is  not.  How  far  does  this  man  or  that,  how 
far  has  this  age  or  that,  understood  these  teachings  ? 
But  the  true  inquiry  is,  What  does  the  word  of  God 
teach  us  ?  And  the  meaning  of  any  one  passage  is 
consistent  with  the  meaning  of  every  other.  Genesis 
and  Revelation  are  alike  inspired.     Moses  may  not 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  163 

be  as  clear  as  Paul,  but  he  is  as  truthful.  The 
morning  star  may  not  be  as  bright  to  the  naked  eye ; 
we  may  not  see  its  phases ;  but  the  telescope  gives 
only  a  clearer  vision  of  the  same  things. 

The  plain  facts  in  the  history  of  Adam  and  in 
regard  to  our  connection  with  him,  have  passed  in 
brief  review  before  us ;  and  these  same  facts  have 
been  before  the  eyes  of  men  in  all  ages  since  our 
first  father's  apostasy.  God  pronounced  a  solemn 
sentence  upon  Adam  for  his  sin;  the  curse  has  been 
upon  his  natural  posterity  from  that  day  to  this ; 
the  facts  are  apparent  before  the  eyes  of  all  men ; 
the  philosophy  of  the  case  may  have  been  under- 
stood more  or  less  distinctly  by  different  men.  It 
is  our  place  to  use  all  the  light  we  can  secure  from 
every  quarter,  to  understand  the  connection  between 
Adam  and  his  children,  which  demands  or  justifies 
that  these  evils  should  rest  on  more  than  himself. 

The  simple  solution  of  the  matter  is  here.  Adam 
stood  in  Paradise,  not  in  his  personal  but  in  a 
public  and  representative  character.  Bearing  to- 
wards his  natural  posterity  the  relation  of  a  repre- 
sentative, his  act  was  legally  their  act;  they  are 
held  liable  for  wdiat  he  did ;  and  judgment  has 
passed  upon  them  to  condemn  them.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  theology  his  sin  is  imputed  to  them — laid 
to  their  account. 

This  is  a  subject  where  many  objections  arise 
from  mere  misapprehension.  It  may,  therefore,  be 
wise  to  delay  the  exposition  and  proof  of  the  true 


164  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

doctrine,  that  we  may  spend  a  little  time  in  giving 
definitions  of  several  things.  Thus  we  may  correct 
in  advance  various  errors  into  which  men  are  prone 
to  fall ;  and  may  greatly  simplify  our  subsequent 
thoughts. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  165 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DEFINITION     OF     TERMS. 

The  COVENANT  OF  WORKS  is  the  name  given  to 
that  arrangement  made  by  God  with  Adam  in  Para- 
dise, when  he  forbade  him  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil ;  and  promised  life  as 
the  reward  of  his  obedience.  The  form  of  covenant 
diflfers  from  the  form  of  law ;  not  in  its  obligations, 
for  Adam  was  as  truly  bound  to  obedience  to  God 
before  the  covenant  was  made  and  after  it  was 
broken,  as  he  was  during  its  continuance.  The 
covenant  was  a  privilege.  Though  Adam  was  bound 
to  obedience  in  everything  and  perpetually;  and 
though  his  perfect  obedience  under  law  could  not 
have  merited  the  high  rewards  of  heaven,  by  this 
covenant  God  promised  that  upon  his  obedience  in 
one  very  plain  and  very  easy  thing,  and,  perhaps, 
for  a  very  limited  space  of  time,  we  should  secure 
the  blessings  of  life  eternal.  We  call  this  a  cove- 
nant because  it  differs  from  a  law  ;  because  it  has 
all  the  characteristics  of  a  covenant  in  contracting 
parties,  terms,  privileges,  and  penalties  ;  because 
we  understand  the  prophet  Hosea  especially  to  say 


166  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

that  Adam  transgressed  the  covenant,  Hos.  vi.  7 ; 
and  because  we  shall  see  that  nothing  else  than  this 
can  satisfy  the  representations  of  the  Scriptures 
concerning  it.  It  is  called  the  covenant  of  works, 
because  obedience  was  demanded  by  its  terms,  and 
had  Adam  remained  obedient  he  would  have  fulfilled 
its  requirements.  So  it  is  long  afterwards  inter- 
preted: "The  man  that  doeth  these  things  shall 
live  by  them." 

We  say  Adam  was  our  federal  head.  The 
word  "federal"  is  derived  from  the  Latin  fcedus,  a 
covenant,  and  means  the  same  as  covenant.  Adam 
was  the  representative  of  his  children  in  this  cove- 
nant. The  United  States  government  is  called  the 
federal  government,  and  its  courts  are  called  federal 
courts,  because  the  general  government  of  this 
country  exists  by  a  compact  or  covenant  between 
the  states  united  in  its  support.  Hence  the  motto, 
U  pluribus  Unum ;  i.  e.,  from  many  one.  Many 
independent  governments  unite  to  form  one. 

Adam  was  the  federal  head  of  his  children  for 
the  purposes  designed  under  the  covenant  of  works, 
in  precisely  the  same  sense  that  an  officer  of  the 
federal  government,  acting  in  his  public  capacity 
for  the  ends  entrusted  to  him,  represents  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  The  laws  of  Congress,  made 
in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  the  rule  of  our  national  covenant, 
bind  the  citizens  of  this  entire  land,  because  made 
by  our  representatives.     And  it  is  even  true  that 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  167 

the  acts  of  private  citizens  against  foreign  govern- 
ments without  any  authority  are  attributed  to  this 
government,  and  we  are  held  responsible  until  we 
expressly  disavow  their  acts.  Any  man  intelligent 
in  political  history  can  easily  remember  facts  which 
illustrate  this  matter. 

The  results  of  Adam's  sin  come  upon  us,  we  are 
accustomed  to  say,  by  the  imputation  of  his  guilt. 
Two  words  in  this  expression  need  to  be  explained, 
for  they  are  frequently  misunderstood  and  are  sub- 
ject to  frequent  misrepresentations. 

When  we  say  that  we  partake  of  the  guilt  of 
Adam's  first  sin,  we  do  not  mean  the  absurd  things, 
that  this  sin  was  committed  by  us  in  our  own  per- 
sons ;  that  we  are  personally  blameworthy  for  an 
act  of  whose  commission  we  had  no  possible  con- 
sciousness ;  or  that  we  ought  to  feel  for  his  sin  the 
same  remorse  and  self-reproach  we  should  feel  for 
our  own.  Much  less  could  it  be  true  that  the  trans- 
fer of  his  guilt  to  us  leaves  him  holy.  We  simply 
mean  that  we  are  held  responsible  for  his  sin,  in 
precisely  the  same  sense  that  a  constituent  is  held 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  his  representative ;  a 
principal,  for  the  acts  of  his  agent  or  attorney.  We 
may  often  feel  humiliation  and  grief;  we  may  often 
suifer  for  acts  we  did  not  do,  and  for  which  we  can- 
not feel  remorse.  If  a  man  possesses  property  in  a 
distant  city,  his  agent  may  neglect  it,  make  foolish 
contracts  respecting  it,  or  act  in  a  dishonest  manner 
respecting  its  income ;  to  the  great  grief,  displea- 


168  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

sure,  and  injury  of  the  owner.  The  owner  cannot 
reflect  upon  himself  for  these  acts,  as  if  he  himself 
had  done  them ;  but  if  this  man  was  truly  his  agent, 
and  how  he  became  so  is  not  the  present  subject  of 
discussion,  he  is  liable  to  suffer  for  all  he  has  done. 
All  the  old  theologians  use  the  word  reatus,  guilt, 
in  this  simple  sense  of  liability  to  suffer  punishment. 

Allied  to  this  is  the  sense  in  which  we  use  the 
word  iynputation.  We  mean  that  the  penalty  of  the 
first  sin  of  Adam  is  laid  to  our  account.  It  is  par- 
ticularly to  be  noticed,  that  the  transference  of 
Adam's  personal  character,  so  far  from  meaning  the 
same  thing  as  imputation,  is  widely  different  and, 
indeed,  contradictory.  If  by  the  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin  is  meant  the  transfer  of  his  sinfulness, 
then  of  course  his  sinfulness  being  taken  away,  he 
is  innocent  and  we  blameworthy.  Nobody  ever 
held  such  a  doctrine  as  this ! 

We  shall  have  further  occasion  to  illustrate  the  true 
meaning  by  referring  to  Christ  and  his  sufferings 
for  our  sins  upon  the  cross.  Suffice  it  now  to  say 
that  when  w^e  affirm  that  Christ  bore  our  sins  in  his 
own  body,  we  do  not  mean  that  their  blameworthi- 
ness came  upon  him,  and  that  the  spotless  Son  of 
God  was  a  sinner.  This  is  abhorrent  to  all  our 
thoughts.  But  we  do  mean  that  the  punishment  of 
our  sins  was  upon  Christ ;  that  they  were  reckoned 
to  his  account,  and  that  our  representative  was  a 
sufferer.     Imputation  refers,  not  to   qualities  and 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  160 

acts,  but  to  legal  responsibility.*  The  personal  act 
of  any  man  is  his  own ;  the  blame  must  belong  to 
himself;  but  the  consequences  of  his  acts,  whether 
for  suffering  or  privilege,  may  come  upon  others 
through  him.  ^'  To  impute  sin,"  says  an  old  writer, f 
"is  to  charge  it  upon  us,  so  as  legally  to  inflict  de- 
served punishment.  We  do  not  mean  that  the  sin 
is  reckoned  to  be  committed  by  us ;  for  we  did  not 
commit  it,  but  Adam ;  but  it  is  so  reckoned  ours 
upon  our  being  included  in  him  as  our  covenant 
head,  that  we  are  punished  for  it  according  to  the 
demerit  of  the  sin." 

*  J.  M.  Mason,  iii.  170. 
f  Hayward's  Sermons  (1758),  p.  15. 
15 


170  ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

WHENCE  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  A  REPRESENTATIVE? 

When  we  speak  of  Adam  as  our  representative, 
we  are  not  using  strange  language  invented  by 
metaphysical  theologians,  and  applicable  only  to 
the  mysteries  of  religion.  The  principles  involved 
in  this  relation  are  as  old  as  the  history  of  man, 
are  of  vital  importance  as  the  foundation  of  all 
human  government,  and  are  essential  to  all  social 
organization.  No  family,  tribe,  or  government  can 
exist  without  involving  the  principles  of  covenants, 
of  representation,  and  of  imputation,  at  least  in 
their  chief  elements. 

We  do  not  understand  that  Adam  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  race  in  the  same  sense  in  which  a 
father  represents  his  children.  Adam  was  our 
natural  father ;  but  in  a  special  sense,  as  we  shall 
duly  notice,  he  was  our  federal  head  in  the  covenant 
of  works.  Yet  from  ^the  fact  that  every  father  does 
represent  his  children,  and  they  derive  injuries  and 
advantages  from  his  conduct,  we  may,  from  the  pa- 
ternal relation,  derive  an  illustration   of  the  place 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  171 

hdd  by  Adam.  Every  representative  possesses 
powers  to  bind  his  constituents ;  these  powers  are 
to  be  interpreted  according  to  the  place  he  holds 
and  the  duties  assigned  him.  A  child  may  repre- 
sent the  family  for  certain  things  entrusted  to  him; 
the  father  of  a  family,  in  his  proper  sphere  as  a  pa- 
rent, legitimately  acts  for  all  the  rest.  The  extent 
of  a  representative's  powers  is  one  thing ;  the  prin- 
ciple of  representation  is  distinct  from  the  question 
of  powers. 

The  principle  of  representation  is  just,  wise, 
useful,  and  necessary  in  human  affairs.  Every  civil 
government  is  and  must  be  representative  in  its 
nature.  Certain  persons  act  for  the  nation ;  by  their 
acts  of  wisdom  the  people  are  benefitted ;  for  their 
acts  of  folly  a  nation  is  held  responsible.  And, 
although  in  the  wickedness  of  man,  gross  abuses  of 
this  principle  of  representation  abound,  and  enor- 
mous evils  have  come  from  it,  it  is  neither  safe  nor 
possible  to  repudiate  or  reject  the  principle  itself. 
Human  affairs  could  not  move  on;  nor  could  society 
exist  without  it.  Founded  in  man's  nature  by 
God's  wisdom,  we  are  obliged  to  recognize  it. 

But  when  we  admit  the  truth  that  representation 
is  essential  to  human  affairs,  it  still  remains  proper 
for  us  to  inquire,  By  what  authority  does  any  per- 
son act  in  that  capacity  ?  If  we  admit  Adam's  au- 
thority as  a  parent,  how  are  we  to  ascertain  his 
authority  to  act  in  a  capacity  which  surpasses  that 
of  our  natural  head  ? 


172  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

Perhaps  the  chief  objection  made  to  the  doctrine 
that  Adam,  under  the  covenant  of  works,  was  the 
representative  of  his  posterity  arises  from  the  fact 
that  he  was  not  the  chosen  representative  of  his 
constituents.  The  basis  of  the  objection  is  the 
claim  that  a  just  representation  implies  that  the 
constituents  should  have  a  voice  in  selecting  their 
representative.  Of  course  this  was  impossible  in 
the  case  of  Adam.  It  is  important  to  examine  this 
matter,  and  to  inquire  if  indeed  representatives  can- 
not otherwise  have  just  authority.  - 

There  is  scarcely  any  more  difficult  question  per- 
taining to  man's  social  estate  and  the  science  of  hu- 
man government,  than  that  which  determines  upon 
what  foundation  rests  the  just  authority  which  al- 
lows one  man  to  act  as  the  representative  of  others. 
It  is  acknowledged  upon  all  hands,  that  the  true  basis 
of  all  true  government  is  Divine  authority.  When 
the  infinitely  wise  and  just  Creator  speaks,  it  can- 
not be  possible  that  injury  or  injustice  should  result 
to  the  rights  of  man.  But  the  administration  of 
human  governments  is  committed  to  man ;  and 
while  men  should  ever  obey  the  Divine  laws  and 
regard  justice  and  truth,  constitutions  may  justly 
be  formed  and  rulers  and  representatives  may  be 
chosen  by  men,  to  carry  out  the  Divine  ordinance 
of  government.  These  things  are  entirely  con- 
sistent. God  ordains  government ;  but  surely  that 
is  a  clear  right  in  any  ruler,  and  that  a  valid  au- 
thority in  any  constitution,  that  they  exist  by  th© 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  173 

free  choice  of  the  people  they  govern.  And  liberty 
will  exist  among  a  people  in  proportion  as  they 
guard  carefully  and  jealously  against  the  encroach- 
ments which  men  in  the  exercise  of  power  have  ever 
been  prone  to  make  against  the  rights  of  the  com- 
monwealth and  for  their  own  aggrandizement. 

We  have  nothing  to  say  against  the  doctrine, 
considered  with  its  just  limitations,  that  the  just 
authority  of  human  governments  and  human  rulers 
and  representatives  arises  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed.  Yet  many  serious  and  difficult  questions 
arise  from  the  fact  that  the  consent  of  the  governed 
is  a  thing  so  partial  in  its  very  best  estate. 

Nobody  contends,  for  example,  that  the  unanimous 
voice  of  the  people  of  any  state  is  necessary  for  the 
election  of  a  governor ;  yet  is  he  the  lawful  ruler, 
even  of  those  who  voted  against  him.  Still  less 
will  any  one  affirm  that  the  voices  of  the  women 
and  children  and  resident  aliens  of  the  land,  are 
necessary  parts  of  a  popular  election ;  and  yet  their 
rights,  and  duties,  and  interests  are  as  truly  af- 
fected by  every  election  as  are  those  of  any  voters. 
Still  less  again  will  any  one  claim  that  the  genera- 
tions to  come  must  be  consulted  in  the  choice  of  our 
rulers  now ;  and  yet  the  generations  to  come  may 
feel,  more  than  we  do,  the  influence  of  the  things 
done  in  our  time. 

Look  then  at  the  state  of  the  case  as  it  appears 
from  one  simple  illustration.  In  electing  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  a  very  small  proportion 
15* 


174  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

of  those  whom  his  acts  may  bind,  can  justly  be 
said  to  give  their  consent  to  his  election.  If  the 
population  is  thirty  millions,  three  millions  may 
actually  cast  their  votes.  If  he  has  a  popular 
majority  of  two  hundred  thousand  the  case  would 
stand  thus :  His  acts  bind  legally  and  righteously  the 
rights,  duties,  and  interests  of  one  million  six  hun- 
dred thousand  who  voted  for  him ;  of  one  million 
four  hundred  thousand  who  voted  against  him ;  of 
twenty-seven  millions  living  in  the  land  who  were 
not  consulted  at  all ;  and  the  influence  of  his  igno- 
rance or  wisdom,  his  neglect  or  activity,  may  pass 
down  to  the  untold  millions  who  arc  yet  to  dwell  in 
this  land,  and  who,  of  course,  could  have  no  voice 
in  constituting  him  their  legal  representative. 

Thus  it  may  be  seen  that,  when  the  popular  choice 
is  exercised  in  the  best  possible  manner  towards  our 
representatives,  it  is  but  very  partially  true  that 
the  choice  of  those  whose  interests  are  affected  is 
necessary  to  their  just  authority.  In  the  fiimily 
relation  this  choice  is  never  exercised  at  all ;  the 
father  is  the  head  of  the  family  by  the  appointment 
of  Divine  providence ;  and  yet,  in  his  proper 
sphere,  he  represents  his  children  as  truly,  and  he 
exercises  authority  as  legitimately,  as  any  ruler  on 
earth. 

In  large  societies,  the  choice  of  a  governor  never 
means  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the  governed ;  but 
always  the  vote  of  a  majority.  It  never  includes 
the  votes  of  females  and  minors,  who  do  not  con- 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  175 

sent  at  all,  or  do  so  by  tacit  acquiescence  or  through 
the  votes  of  others.  It  never  means  the  consent 
of  posterity ;  although  their  dearest  rights  and  in- 
terests may  be  affected  by  the  things  done  before 
they  were  born.  And  the  persons  affected  by 
the  acts  of  a  representative  may  be  innumerably 
greater  than  those  who  had  any  voice  in  selecting 
him. 

Thus  we  may  gather  from  the  arrangements  of 
society  and  our  common  ideas  of  justice,  that  the 
exercise  of  choice  in  an  interested  constituency 
does  not  enter  so  essentially  as  has  often  been 
thought,  into  the  elements  of  just  representation. 
The  righteous  relation  of  constituent  and  repre- 
sentative often  exists  where  consent  is  impossible; 
often  where  consent  is  not  unanimous  ;  often  where 
dissent  is  plainly  expressed.  There  may  be  other 
things  demanded ;  and  their  presence  may  more 
than  compensate  for  the  absence  of  that  general 
consent  which  is  forbidden  by  the  circumstances  of 
the  case.  If  it  must  be  admitted  that  succeeding 
generations  maybe  held  responsible  for  the  promises, 
and  engagements,  and  acts  of  those  now  living,  then 
the  most  important  difficulty  of  the  case  is  really 
disposed  of.  Adam  might  as  rightfully  act  for  his 
successors  as  we  for  ours,  so  far  as  pertains  to  this 
particular  matter,  the  consent  of  the  parties  inter- 
ested. 

Nor  is  it  possible  for  us  to  imagine  a  better 
right  to  act  in  this  capacity  than  that  which  flows 


176  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

from  the  Divine  ajypointment.  As  the  authority  of 
a  parent  flows  from  Divine  Providence ;  as  this  ap- 
pointment is  easily  ascertained ;  and  as  no  authority 
is  more  legitimate  in  its  proper  sphere ;  so  any  au- 
thority granted  from  the  Divine  government  should 
1)0  unquestioned  for  its  legitimacy,  its  justice,  and 
its  excellence.  In  ordinary  representation  in  hu- 
man governments,  the  difficulty  lies  in  deciding  what 
constitutes  the  proof  of  Divine  approval.  Govern- 
ment is  of  Crod  is  a  great  truth.  Is  this  ruler  le- 
gitimate? is  quite  another  question.  But  certainly 
if  it  can  be  made  to  appear  that  Adam  acted,  not 
as  a  private  person,  but  as  the  head  of  the  human 
race;  the  very  fact  itself  is  a  sufficient  proof  that 
his  just  authority  so  to  do,  proceeded  from  the  only 
source  then  possible.  God  either  gave  him  this  au- 
thority, or  recognized  his  right  to  exercise  it.  Un- 
less, then,  we  are  ready  to  charge  evil  upon  the  God 
of  unchangeable  wisdom,  holiness,  and  goodness,  we 
must  not  only  lay  aside  our  untenable  and  incon- 
sistent objections;  we  must  not  only  be  content  to 
believe  where  we  do  not  clearly  see  ;  but  we  must 
recognize  the  proof  of  the  fact  in  such  a  case  as 
the  proof  of  right;  and  say  if  Adam  was  regarded 
as  a  covenant  head  in  the  eye  of  God,  he  was  not 
wrongfully  so. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  177 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    COVENANT    MADE    WITH   ADAM    REASONABLE — • 
ARGUMENTS. 

A  REPLY  to  the  inquiry,  Did  God  indeed  form  a 
covenant  with  Adam  as  the  root  and  representative 
of  the  human  race  ?  may  now  form  the  subject  of 
several  chapters. 

Affirming  the  existence  of  such  a  covenant,  the 
following  are  some  of  the  reasons  we  would  assign 
for  our  faith. 

The  first  reason  is  this :  Such  an  arrangement, 
in  itself  considered,  is  worthy  of  the  wisdom  of 
God  and  of  his  goodness  towards  man;  and  it  was 
made  on  terms  highly  advantageous  to  the  human 
family. 

The  constitution  of  the  human  race,  as  descend- 
ing from  one  pair  and  as  moral  and  reasonable 
beings,  was  devised  in  God's  infinite  wisdom.  All 
our  fetsf' reasonings,  therefore,  upon  this  entire 
topic,  must  be  based  upon  man,  not  as  we  think  he 
should  have  been,  but  as  God  made  him.  Surely 
we  have  not  knowledge  or  wisdom  enough  to  say, 
that  any  other  constitution  for  the  race  was  prefer- 


178  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

able.  God  pronounced  Adam  very  good  ;  and  this 
approval  would  have  extended  to  all  the  race  so 
long  as  it  remained  sinless.  He  must  be  presump- 
tuous indeed,  who  goes  so  far  back  as  to  find  fault 
with  the  very  nature  given  by  God  to  the  human 
family. 

As  God  made  Adam  he  was  a  moral  and  rational 
being ;  and  his  children  were  all  to  partake  of  the 
same  nature  with  their  first  father.  By  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  nature,  each  individual  is  under  obli- 
gations of  personal,  perfect,  and  perpetual  obedience 
to  the  entire  law  of  God.  We  cannot  conceive  that 
a  moral  being  could  ever  rightfully  disobey  the  will 
of  the  wise  and  holy  God,  his  Creator.  But  the 
utmost  perfection  of  obedience  could  not  bring  the 
Divine  Ruler  under  any  obligations  to  bestow  special 
rewards  upon  the  creature.  Law  never  rewards  obe- 
dience, in  the  strict  sense  of  reward.  A  just  God 
could  not  punish  an  innocent  being ;  he  would  be- 
stow his  favour  upon  an  obedient  creature  as  he  did 
to  Adam  during  his  entire  estate  of  innocence. 
But  by  obedience  to  the  law  of  God  no  creature 
could  merit  that  exceeding  weight  of  glory  which 
we  are  taught  to  call  by  the  name  of  heaven.  If 
Adam  and  his  race  had  inherited  the  original  con- 
ditions of  their  being,  they  would  have  been  under 
law  alone  and  for  ever.  Perhaps  they  would  have 
been  for  ever  liable  to  fall.  Certainly  their  con- 
tinued obedience  would  have  secured  for  them  but 
the  favour  of  God,  without  any  legal  claims  upon 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIxMES.  179 

higher  rewards  which  no  services  of  the  creature 
can  merit. 

Now  a  covenant  wonderfully  changes  this  estate 
of  man.  Instead  of  making  his  obedience  have  re- 
gard to  the  entire  law,  it  confines  the  trial  of  his 
faithfulness  to  one  single  self-denial ;  and  this  the 
very  simplest  and  easiest  of  performance  that  Di- 
vine benevolence  could  require  of  him.  Instead  of 
making  his  obedience  perpetual  for  himself  and  for 
his  race,  with,  perhaps,  the  constant  liability  to  fall 
through  all  their  lives,  we  have  every  reason  to 
judge  that  he  and  all  his  race,  after  a  short  period 
of  trial,  would  have  been  confirmed  in  holiness  and 
happiness  for  ever.  Every  free  creature  is,  perhaps, 
liable  to  fall,  considered  simply  as  to  his  najtural 
powers ;  but  the  grace  of  God  can  confirm  holy  be- 
ings in  holiness  beyond  the  possibility  of  fall; 
which  case  now  belongs  to  the  saints  and  angels  in 
glory.  Instead  of  making  his  obedience  depend  on 
law  without  special  promises,  the  great  promises  of 
everlasting  life  were  set  before  him.  And  these 
preferable  things  oifered  by  Divine  goodness  to 
Adam,  in  exchange  for  his  natural  condition  under 
law,  were  hampered  by  no  such  disadvantages  as  to 
make  the  covenant  injurious  or  burdensome.  The 
penalty  was  no  more  severe  for  breaking  the  cove- 
nant than  the  natural  exposedness  of  the  creature 
under  the  law ;  for  the  disobedience  of  a  creature, 
in  any  particular  and  at  any  time,  would  have  met 
the  same  displeasure  of  God.     Nor  have  we  any 


180'  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

just  reason  to  say  that  without  such  a  covenant 
each  individual  of  the  race  would  have  been  sub- 
jected to  a  temporary  probation.  If  God  had  left 
us  under  mere  law,  our  service  must  have  been  for 
all  our  duties,  of  perpetual  requirement  and  with 
no  special  promises  for  obedience.  Or  if  he  had 
formed  a  covenant  for  each,  the  likelihood  of  obe- 
dience could  never  be  stronger  than  in  the  garden. 
The  truth  is,  the  covenant  of  works  made  by  God 
with  Adam  was  an  exceedingly  great  and  valuable 
privilege  bestowed  by  the  just  and  benevolent 
Creator  upon  the  newly  formed  race.  Unless  we 
question  the  whole  foundation  of  man's  natural  and 
moral  estate — though  the  product  of  infinite  wisdom 
— we  cannot  gainsay  the  truth  of  this.  It  was  in- 
comparably better  that  man  should  be  under  a 
temporary  covenant  than  that  he  should  remain  in 
his  natural  estate  under  a  perpetual  law ;  that  he 
should  have  the  early  hope  of  confirmation  in  holi- 
ness rather  than  the  constant  liability  to  fall ;  that 
one  simple  and  easy  requirement  should  take  the 
place  of  the  numerous  and  perplexing  claims  of 
duty  under  the  whole  law ;  that  while  the  penalty 
was  not  increased,  the  rewards  of  obedience  should 
be  so  large  in  exchange  for  the  natural  advantages 
flowing  from  God's  justice  under  the  law  towards 
obedient  persons.  To  exchange  the  natural  estate 
of  man  for  this  brief  covenant,  to  make  Adam  re- 
sponsible in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers,  with 
the  consciousness  of  his  trust,  and  with  so  great 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  181 

easiness  of  obedience,  is  not  a  transaction  charge- 
able with  folly  and  injustice.  If  Adam  had  but 
stood  the  trial,  the  gratitude  of  the  race  would  have 
been  unbounded ;  both  to  our  first  father  for  his 
success,  and  to  the  blessed  God  for  the  goodness 
that  gave  man  the  opportunity  of  securing  ever- 
lasting life  by  means  so  simple  and  easy.  Unless, 
then,  we  are  guilty  of  the  wickedness  of  charging 
the  fault  of  the  failure  upon  God,  which  is  entirely 
untrue ;  we  ought  to  recognize,  not  only  that  he  did 
thus  enter  into  covenant  with  Adam,  but  that  infi- 
nite wisdom  and  goodness  prompted  the  arrange- 
ment. The  covenant  would  have  succeeded  but  for 
man's  sin ;  its  success  would  have  been  glorious ; 
and  the  mere  fact  of  failure,  however  disastrous, 
does  not  invalidate  its  excellent  principles ;  and 
should  bring  no  reproach  upon  its  holy  and  benevo- 
lent Author. 

A  second  reason  for  our  faith  may  be  drawn  from 
its  reasonableness ;  not  only  in  itself,  but  as  com- 
pared with  other  attempts  to  explain  the  whole  sub- 
ject. 

The  most  serious  difficulties  upon  this  entire 
matter  confessedly  attend  any  view  whatever  that 
w^ill  include  the  well  known  facts ;  and  every  im- 
portant objection  is  quite  as  hard  to  meet  in  any 
view  we  may  take.  But  it  is  a  settled  principle  of 
sound  philosophy  that  objections  to  well  established 
facts  are  of  no  weight.  Facts  give  knowledge,  ob- 
jections arise  out  of  our  ignorance.  Their  true  cure 
16 


182  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

is,  not  the  denial  of  what  we  already  know,  but  to 
learn  more.  And  we  must  expect  to  find  in  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures  the  same  difficulties  we 
find  in  the  world  about  us  ;  since  they  have  the  same 
Author.*  As  already  said,  we  cannot  fully  explain 
anything  even  in  natural  science.  Perhaps  in  reli- 
gious teachings  there  is  this  additional  reason  for 
obscurity ;  that  God  especially  demands  humility 
and  faith  in  every  worshipper ;  and  the  clouds  and 
darkness  around  some  interesting  subjects  of  thought 
may  the  better  secure  his  purpose. 

Men  are  greatly  tempted  to  charge  God  with  in- 
justice to  the  race  in  this  matter.  The  Almighty 
vindicates  himself  from  this  charge  most  ex- 
plicitly ;  but  not  by  clearing  up  the  difficulties 
which  men  cannot  solve.  He  declares  the  infinite 
and  unchangeable  holiness  of  his  own  character ; 
explicitly  avows  that  he  tempts  no  man  to  evil,  that 
he  judges  righteous  judgment  of  every  man ;  and 
that  the  blame  of  man's  sin  and  ruin  in  no  sense 
attaches  to  Him ;  and  calls  upon  man,  in  view  of 
plain  truth  and  in  spite  of  ignorance  in  some  things, 
to  believe  that  the  Divine  throne  is  spotless.  What- 
ever seeming  contradictions  there  may  be,  let  faith 
acknowledge  that  there  is  no  real  inconsistency. 
Because  a  feeble  worm  cannot  explain  the  mysteri- 
ous dealings  of  God,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  are 
inexplicable.  For  he  may  make  the  darkest  bright 
in  the  day  of  his  revelation.  For  the  present  he 
*  Origen  quoted  by  Bishop  Butler. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  183 

often  says,  "  What  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but 
thou  shalt  know  hereafter." 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  chief  difficulties  of  this 
case  are  common  to  every  view  man  can  get  of  it, 
we  may  proceed  to  speak  of  some  theories  which 
seem  to  us  less  satisfactory  than  the  sentiments  we 
have  expressed. 

Some  have  supposed  that  the  facts  of  man's  uni- 
versal sinfulness  can  be  accounted  for,  by  acknow- 
ledging that  every  man  is  possessed  of  a  voluntary 
nature,  and  that  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  free 
will  every  man  chooses  the  ways  and  thoughts  of 
evil.  Others  have  thought  that  the  evil  examples 
everywhere  existing  in  the  world  are  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation of  universal  sinfulness.  But  it  is  utterly 
incredible  that,  in  the  exercise  of  free  will  in  moral 
beings  entirely  unbiassed  by  evil,  among  so  many 
millions  of  individuals  through  the  ages  of  time, 
there  never  should  occur  one  single  instance  of  the 
choice  of  good.  Surely  if  the  will  of  man  was 
perverted  and  prone  to  wrong,  the  fatal  tendency 
could  not  be  worse  than  well  known  results  really 
are.  And  it  is  just  as  inexplicable,  that  bad  exam- 
ples should  be  invariably  copied  by  beings,  who, 
but  for  these,  would  be  holy.  For  there  are  many 
good  examples  set  before  the  children  of  our  race ; 
and  bad  examples  ought,  at  least  in  some  cases,  to 
serve  a§  Avarnings  and  to  deter,  rather  than  win,  a 
mind  that  has  no  bias  to  evil.  And  the  mystery  in 
the  providence  of  God  is  not  at  all  relieved  if  we 


184  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

deny  that  man  is  corrupt  by  nature,  and  yet  affirm 
that  he  is  placed  in  circumstances  where  every  in- 
dividual is  sure  to  become  corrupt. 

Others  have  recognized  all  the  evils  of  a  corrupt 
nature  as  flowing  from  the  sin  of  the  first  man ;  but 
they  refuse  to  recognize  the  existence  of  the  cove- 
nant of  works,  and  declare  that  men  inherit  the 
curse  upon  Adam  by  reason  of  a  Divine  constitution 
to  that  effect.  Whatever  in  such  a  theory  is  differ- 
ent from  the  doctrine  of  Adam's  federal  headship, 
relieves  us  of  no  difficulty  ;  while  serious  disadvan- 
tages are  involved  to  which  just  objection  may  be 
made.  By  this  arbitrary  Divine  constitution  to 
which  even  Adam  is  not  supposed  to  give  consent, 
the  human  race  never  had  any  trial,  nor  any  fa- 
vourable opportunity  of  securing  everlasting  life ; 
we  are  not  otherwise  connected  with  Adam  than  as 
our  first  father,  nor  was  he  divinely  appointed  to 
act  for  us ;  yet,  by  virtue  of  this  Divine  constitu- 
tion, all  these  evils  come  upon  us  for  the  sin  of  one, 
ivith  whom,  upon  this  theory,  we  had  no  special 
connection.  While  this  view  relieves  no  difficulty, 
it  involves  more  serious  ones.  It  bids  us  believe 
that  without  any  union  with  Adam  we  suffer  just 
the  same  as  if  we  had  been  united  to  him  ;  and, 
moreover,  it  seems  necessarily  to  forbid  that  the 
obedience  of  Adam  would  have  been  of  any  special 
service  to  his  posterity.  Had  the  first  man  obeyed 
the  special  command  of  God,  his  children  would  not 
have  suffered  these  evils ;  but  neither  would  they 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  185 

have  "reigned  with  him  in  life."  They  would  still 
have  been  under  law,  and  perhaps  each  one  in  a 
state  of  trial  for  himself,  and  for  aught  we  know, 
with  the  perpetual  liability  to  fall. 

But  if  we  believe  there  was  a  covenant,  then 
good  on  the  one  hand  and  evil  on  the  other,  de- 
pended upon  the  obedience  of  our  representative, 
until  the  time  had  expired  and  the  terms  of  the 
covenant  were  fulfilled.  If  we  believe  that  Adam 
was  only  under  law,  and  this  not  in  a  covenant 
form ;  if  his  obedience  was  merely  personal ;  if  it 
must  be  perpetual ;  if  no  time  was  promised  of  con- 
firmation in  holiness,  such  as  now  belongs  to  the 
angels  and  saints  in  heaven  ;  and  if  every  one  of 
his  children  must  stand  precisely  in  this  position, 
then  this  supposed  Divine  constitution  puts  the  en- 
tire human  family  under  the  most  serious  disadvan- 
tages, without  any  attempt  to  explain  tbe  Divine 
rectitude  and  without  a  redeeming  promise  of  good, 
such  as  vindicates  the  Divine  benevolence  in  the 
covenant  of  works. 

Believe  in  a  covenant,  and  Adam's  position  is 
not  personal  but  public  ;  the  largest  blessings  are 
promised  to  his  seed  upon  easy  terms ;  a  person  em- 
inently fit  stands  for  them ;  and  the  evils  of  his 
unhappy  failure  come  upon  more  than  himself  be- 
cause of  a  legal  connection. 

Here  then  is  a  brief  summary  of  these  thoughts. 
The  facts  already  considered  compel  us  to  believe 
that  the  race  of  man  is  corrupt ;  the  universality 
16^- 


186  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIxMES. 

of  this  corruption  forbids  us  to  decide  that  it  can 
be  accounted  for  by  anything  short  of  a  depraved 
nature  in  the  entire  race.  And  if  we  must  choose 
between  an  arbitrary  Divine  constitution,  based 
upon  no  well  known  principles,  promising  no  advan- 
tages, and  bringing  innumerable  evils  through  Adam 
upon  those  who  stood  towards  him  in  no  special 
connection ;  and  a  covenant  which  places  for  our 
representative,  a  man  of  all  others  the  most  suitable 
for  place  and  capacity  ;  which  promises  extraordi- 
nary advantages  upon  his  obedience ;  and  which 
upon  principles  that  radically  belong  to  our  social 
nature,  makes  us  liable  to  the  results  of  his  disobe- 
dience, through  our  legal  union  and  connection  with 
him,  the  choice  between  those  two  explanations 
seems  easily  made.  The  covenant  made  with  Adam 
seems  every  way  the  simplest  solution  of  the  matter. 
There  are  some  difl&culties  that  are  not  removed  by 
this  view ;  but  not  one  existing  difficulty  is  magni- 
fied ;  no  new,  especially  no  superior,  difficulties  are 
created ;  this  harmonizes  with  other  things  in  hu- 
man experience,  in  the  dealings  of  God's  providence 
and  in  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  not 
least  of  all,  as  we  shall  see,  this  explanation  finds 
its  glorious  counterpart  in  that  greater  covenant  by 
which  the  grace  of  God  repairs  the  ruins  of  the  fall. 


ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES.  187 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  COVENANT  MADE  WITH  ADAM — FURTHER  PROOF 
FROM    SCRIPTURE. 

The  narrative  in  Genesis,  scarcely  capable  of 
any  other  solution,  forms  a  third  reason  for  aflSrming 
the  existence  of  the  covenant  of  works. 

Here  God  and  Adam  stand  towards  each  other 
in  relations  different  from  that  of  the  mere  creature 
before  his  Creator.  As  in  a  covenant,  we  have  two 
parties  before  us ;  on  the  one  hand,  God ;  on  the 
other,  mankind,  in  the  person  of  the  only  living 
member  of  the  race  then  in  existence.  Here  are 
terms.  The  natural  and  inalienable  due  of  every 
creature  is  perpetual  and  entire  obedience.  But 
here,  evidently  for  some  special  purpose,  God  sub- 
stitutes a  requirement  incomparably  less  difficult. 
How  small  a  thing  was  it  to  require  that  a  holy 
being  should  refrain  from  the  fruit  of  a  single  tree, 
when  he  was  so  fully  supplied  with  the  necessaries 
and  even  the  luxuries  of  life  !  How  impossible  it 
is  to  understand  why  such  evident  importance 
should  be  attached  to  this  command,  if  no  special 
privilege    was   included   under  it!     Any    duty   of 


188  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

Adam's  life  Tvas  a  test  of  personal  obedience ;  tins 
must  be  a  special  test  for  special  purposes  and  with 
special  privileges.  Here  are  sanctions.  The  penalty 
of  man's  disobedience  was  natural  and  necessary ; 
no  creature  could  with  impunity  sin  against  God. 
But  here  the  penalty  is  specially  extended  to  an 
act  that  in  itself  was  harmless ;  and  which  became 
exceedingly  sinful  just  because  of  the  especial  place 
which  that  forbidden  tree  held  in  a  dispensation 
that  differed  from  the  moral  law.  And  more  than 
the  mere  approbation  of  God  upon  innocence  is 
plainly  implied  in  the  blessings  which  were  thus 
promised  to  obedient  men.  Here  also  we  have  the 
consent  of  the  man  fairly  implied  ;  given  in  the 
words  of  Eve  to  the  serpent ;  included  in  the  utter 
absence  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  Adam,  as  to 
this  point,  after  he  had  fallen  and  the  sentence  was 
pronounced  upon  his  disobedience.  Our  first  pa- 
rents in  the  first  discovery  of  their  sin  did  murmur 
against  God ;  but  they  have,  even  in  their  sin,  not 
a  word  to  say  against  a  sentence  that  can  only  be 
explained,  in  its  far  reaching  influence,  by  the  ex- 
istence of  a  covenant. 

We  regard  it  as  a  fourth  argument  that  the  form- 
ation of  such  a  covenant  with  Adam  corresponds 
not  only  with  the  nature  of  man,  but  with  the 
usual  methods  of  God's  dealings  with  the  sons  of 
men. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  Bible,  through  all  its 
pages,  we  have  frequent  mention  made  of  an  ever- 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  189 

lasting  covenant,  made  with  God's  people  and  with 
their  seed.  AVe  have  no  direct  account  of  the 
formation  of  this  covenant  or  of  its  first  proclama- 
tion as  a  covenant  to  man.  When  first  spoken  of 
in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  introduced  as  a  privilege 
whose  nature  and  terms  Avere  already  well  under- 
stood. From  the  time  that  he  said  to  Noah,  "  Be- 
hold, I  establish  my  covenant  with  you  and  with 
your  seed  after  you,"  Gen.  ix.  9;  we  find  mention 
made  of  this  covenant,  and  of  its  extension  to  fu- 
ture generations,  in  all  the  Scriptures.  It  is  not 
only  with  Abraham  and  Jacob,  and  with  Israel  at 
Sinai  that  God  made  this  covenant ;  but  God's  cove- 
nant, the  everlasting  covenant,  is  mentioned  in  the 
histories,  in  the  psalms,  and  in  the  prophecies  of 
the  Old  Testament ;  and  in  the  New  Testament, 
Zacharias  prophesied  of  it  at  the  birth  of  John  the 
Baptist,  Luke  i.  72;  Peter  preached  of  it  at  Pente- 
cost ;  and  Paul  argued  upon  it  against  the  errors 
of  the  early  Church,  Gal.  iii. 

It  makes  no  difference  to  our  present  argument, 
whether  we  regard  these  expressions  as  denoting 
the  same  covenant,  proclaimed  even  in  the  family 
of  Adam  after  the  fall  with  the  solemn  rite  of  sacri- 
fice for  its  seal,  having  no  early  records  of  its  ex- 
press terms,  but  explained  in  all  the  subsequent 
Scriptures ;  or  whether  we  suppose  that  these  fre- 
quent terms  denote  different  covenants,  made  with 
Noah,  Abraham,  Israel,  and  David.  Nor  need  we, 
at  present,  distinguish  between  the  spiritual  benefits 


190  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

of  the  covenant  kept,  and  the  judgments  of  God 
for  the  covenant  broken.  The  simple  points  of 
present  remark  are,  that  God  has  repeatedly  cove- 
nanted with  man ;  and  that  he  ever  includes  in  the 
covenant  the  children  of  those  with  whom  the  cove- 
nant was  made.  He  included  Noah  and  his  seed ; 
Abraham  and  his  seed ;  David  and  his  seed ;  and 
at  Sinai  it  was  said  to  the  people,  "  Neither  with 
you  only  do  I  make  this  covenant,  but  with  him 
that  is  not  here  with  us  this  day."  And  if  we  fol- 
low the  history  of  the  people  of  Israel  through  all 
♦  r  /the  Bible,  we  will  find  them/furinshed  by  the  judg- 
ments of  God  for  the  breach  of  the  covenant  made 
with  their  fathers  so  long  before.  Not  only  so,  we 
may  lift  up  our  eyes  now  and  see  the  Jews  a  scat- 
tered and  a  suffering  people  in  all  the  earth,  because 
of  the  sins  of  their  fathers  eighteen  centuries  ago, 
against  a  covenant  that  is  at  least  three  thousand 
years  old.  We  have  ample  proof  then  that  the 
covenant  made  with  Adam  binding  his  posterity  to 
the  latest  generation  is  entirely  according  to  God's 
usual  dealings  with  the  sons  of  men. 

We  may  derive  a  fifth  reason  and  the  strongest, 
and  most  explicit  of  all,  from  the  direct  teachings 
of  the  Scriptures. 

We  are  expressly  informed  that  the  evils  of  sin 
and  death  come  upon  us  through  Adam.  We  need 
to  examine  but  a  few  of  the  more  direct  passages. 

In  Hosea  vi.  7  we  read,  "But  they  like  men  have 
transgressed  the  covenant."     The  original  Hebrew 


ADAxM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  191 

is,  "  They  like  Adam  have  transgressed  the  cove- 
nant ;"  and  the  same  phrase  is  so  rendered  in  Job 
xxxi.  33.  This  is  a  direct  affirmation  of  the  cove- 
nant made  with  Adam. 

In  1  Cor.  XV.  22  the  apostle  says  expressly,  "In 
Adam  all  die."  This  cannot  mean  less  than  that 
we  die  by  reason  of  Adam's  sin.  But  what  he  says 
in  Rom.  v.  12 — 21  is  still  more  explicit.  As  we 
have  other  things  to  say  of  this  passage,  we  may 
now  simply  appeal  to  these  repeated  statements : 
— By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world  and 
death  by  sin ;  through  the  offence  of  one  many  be 
dead ;  by  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by  one ; 
by  the  offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon  all  men 
to  condemnation ;  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners. 

Now  from  the  teachings  of  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Romans  we  may  draw  two  further  arguments  to 
prove  that  Adam  stood  as  our  representative  in  the 
covenant  of  works. 

The  first  is  from  the  force  of  the  apostle's  argument 
from  the  death  of  infants.  We  have  no  reason  to 
think  that  death  comes  upon  one  portion  of  the  hu- 
man family  for  one  reason,  and  that  it  comes  upon 
other  portions  for  other  and  different  reasons.  If 
any  portion  of  the  race  dies  because  Adam  sinned, 
then  it  is  equally  righteous  that  others  should  die 
for  the  same  reason.  It  is  disputed  whether  the 
apostle  does  or  does  not  refer  to  infants  when  he 
speaks   of   them  that  "  had   not  sinned  after  the 


192  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

similitude  of  Adam's  transgression."  It  is  of  no 
importance  to  the  force  of  our  present  argument, 
whether  he  refers  to  them  or  not.  For  since  infants 
"who  have  neither  done  good  nor  evil,"  Rom.  ix. 
11,  do  die  and  have  died  since  the  world  began,  an 
argument  framed  exactly  in  the  words  of  Paul  is 
applicable  to  them  ;  and  is  unanswerable  to  prove 
that  their  death  proves  their  condemnation  under 
the  law.  Study  the  death  of  an  infant  child ;  ac- 
knowledge that  it  has  not  personally  sinned ;  believe 
according  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  that  suffer- 
ing and  death  are  the  proofs  of  a  broken  law  and 
the  wages  of  sin  ;  but  while  you  see  that  here  are 
pain,  and  suffering,  and  death,  and  the  return  of 
the  body  to  the  dust,  you  multiply  the  mysteries 
that  becloud  all  reasonings  upon  such  a  subject,  un- 
less you  receive  this  solution,  that  death  comes  upon 
them,  and  if  upon  them  as  well  upon  all  men, 
through  the  sin  of  a  broken  covenant.  The  well 
known  epitaph  expresses  the  whole  matter. 

"  Bold  infidelity,  turn  pale  and  die ! 
Beneath  this  stone  two  infants'  ashes  lie; 

Say — are  they  lost  or  saved  ? 
If  death's  by  sin,  they  sinned  because  they're  here; 
If  heaven's  by  works,  in  heaven  they  can't  appear ; 

Ah,  reason,  how  depraved  ! 
Revere  the  sacred  page,  the  knot's  untied  ; 
They  died,  for  Adam  sinned  ;  they  live,  for  Jesus  died." 

The  second  argument  from  Paul's  language  arises 
from  the  fact  that  he  attributes  the  condemnation 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  193 

of  the  human  race  to  the  one  offence  of  Adam.  It 
is  perfectly  clear  from  his  statements  that  we  are 
not  held  liable  for  any  of  the  sins  of  Adam,  except 
the  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit ;  and  for  that  one 
oifence  death  has  passed  upon  the  race.  It  is  just 
as  plain,  if  this  is  so,  that  we  are  not  connected 
with  Adam  simply  as  children  are  connected  with  a 
parent.  A  father  may  commit  many  errors  and  his 
children  may  suffer  repeatedly  through  him.  He 
may  commit  errors  in  his  business,  and  his  heirs 
may  suffer  for  every  loss  he  meets.  He  may  be- 
lieve mischievous  doctrines,  and  every  one  may  be 
transmitted  for  evil  to  his  posterity.  He  may  con- 
tract diseases,  and  these  may  become  hereditary. 
The  merely  natural  connection  between  a  parent 
and  a  child,  gives  the  parent  power  analogous  to 
that  of  a  representative,  but  it  is  not  limited  to  one 
offence.  But  in  the  case  of  Adam  our  whole  re- 
sponsibility does  turn  upon  one  offence  ;  and  that 
is  just  such  a  one  as  might  be  committed  by  a  pa- 
rent without  bringing  special  mischief  on  his  pos- 
terity. This  limitation  to  one  offence,  and  these 
great  effects  flowing  from  one,  can  be  explained 
only  by  believing  that  we  stood  in  Adam — that  we 
fell  in  Adam,  when  he  partook  of  the  forbidden 
tree,  in  a  sense  that  is  not  true  of  any  of  Adam's 
personal  obligations  or  personal  transgressions. 

AVhen  God  called,  "Adam,  where  art  thou?"  and 
the  reply  was  a  falsehood,  nothing  is  said  of  laying 
that  offence  upon  us.     Adam,  doubtless,  committed 
17 


194  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

other  sins  in  nine  hundred  years  ;  but  by  his  one 
offence  death  reigns.  He  was  our  natural  head 
through  all  his  life  ;  he  was  our  federal  head  in  re- 
gard to  that  one  thing ;  for  the  covenant  demanded 
obedience  respecting  the  fruit  of  the  tree. 

Without  attempting  to  express  any  further  rea- 
sons to  prove  the  fact  that  a  covenant  was  made 
with  Adam,  except  the  clear  proof  which  arises 
from  Paul's  parallel  between  Adam  and  Christ, 
which  we  reserve  for  other  chapters,  it  may  be  pro- 
per to  advert  to  the  practical  influence  of  the  doc- 
trine thus  advocated  as  corroborative  of  its  truth. 
No  intelligent  man  can  question  the  intellectual 
vigour  and  the  warm-hearted  piety  of  the  men  who 
have  held  these  views ;  no  one  can  doubt  that  they 
can  use  in  expressing  their  views  the  impressive 
language  of  the  Bible  upon  the  subject  of  man's 
sin ;  and  it  is  equally  beyond  question  that  these 
teachings  are  most  decidedly  rejected  by  ungodly 
and  wicked  men,  who  have  no  serious  thoughts  con- 
cerning any  of  their  sins,  and  no  true  reverence 
for  God  at  all.  No  doubt  many  a  Christian  can  re- 
member when  he  quarrelled  with  the  doctrine  of 
man's  native  depravity,  or  perhaps  found  in  it  ex- 
cuses for  carelessness.  But  let  a  man  lay  aside  his 
pride ;  let  him  look  at  the  well  known  facts  of  his 
sins  and  of  God's  justice ;  let  him  justify  God's 
holy  law  and  holy  character,  even  in  things  he  does 
not  understand ;  and  he  will  find  these  teachings, 
never  pleasant,  but  deeply  humbling  and  profitable, 


ADAM  AND   HIS  TIMES.  195 

When  a  man  justifies  God  in  all  his  doings  as  David 
did,  and  yet  confesses  with  David  that  he  was  "con- 
ceived and  born  in  sin ;"  when  he  recognizes  that 
he  has  been  a  sinner  from  the  very  beginning  of  his 
life,  he  may  well  abhor  himself  for  his  vileness  and 
pray  fervently,  "  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0 
God."  I  may  not  find  fault  with  the  Lord;  nor 
say  to  my  Maker,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  ? 
But  with  a  sinful  nature,  I  ought  to  be  humble ; 
with  such  depraved  tendencies,  I  need  to  watch 
against  temptation  and  sin ;  and  the  more  I  know 
of  my  sinful,  and  wretched,  and  lost  estate,  the 
more  thankful  I  ought  to  be  that  God  has  not  left 
our  race  to  perish  in  guilt;  that  he  has  provided 
a  mighty  Redeemer,  and  that  he  calls  me  to  wash 
away  the  stain  of  numerous  ofiences  in  the  fountain 
of  atoning  blood. 


196  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ADAM — THE   FIRST   AND    THE    SECOND. 

*'  The  Second  Adam  from  the  dust 
Raises  the  ruins  of  the  First." 

Watts. 

There  is  no  historical  question  of  surpassing  in- 
terest to  a  serious  Christian,  beyond  that  which 
would  inquire  into  the  early  knowledge  of  the  hu- 
man family  concerning  redemption.  It  is  not  only 
true  that  the  sacred  Scriptures  place  the  sin  of  man 
and  the  mercy  of  God  in  constant  contiguity ;  urging 
man's  utter  ruin  as  the  great  reason  why  he  should 
seek  the  Divine  method  of  recovery ;  but  God's 
mercy  was  taught  to  the  first  sinners  even  before 
they  gave  any  tokens  of  ingenuous  sorrow.  How 
much  was  known  of  the  gospel  in  the  first  days  of 
its  proclamation?  When  we  read  that  our  first  pa- 
rents were  clothed  in  skins  of  God's  providing,  in- 
stead of  the  scanty  fig-leaf  aprons  they  had  them- 
selves prepared,  are  we  to  understand  that  these 
were  the  skins  of  beasts  slain  in  the  Paradise  they 
had  just  defiled  —  slain  as  sacrificial  ofi*eriiigs  to 
atone  for  the  guilt  they  had  just  contracted — slain 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  197 

as  prophetic  and  sacramental  symbols  of  that  coming 
Redeemer,  whose  conflict  with  Satan,  whose  bruis- 
ing and  whose  triumph  had  just  been  foretold? 
When  we  read  of  Abel's  bleeding  sacrifice  as  a  cus- 
tom already  established  and  sufiiciently  under- 
stood; when  his  faith  and  Cain's  unbelief  clearly 
imply  Divine  teachings  to  which  both  should  have 
conformed ;  and  when  man's  need  of  the  gospel 
and  God's  grace  in  the  gospel  seem  in  the  Scrip- 
tures to  belong  to  every  age  of  human  history ;  are 
we  from  all  these  things  to  conclude  that  Adam 
knew  Christ  and  the  way  of  salvation  through  the 
blood  of  atonement  ?  There  can  be  little  doubt 
about  the  most  important  matters  involved  in  such 
an  investigation.  Adam  knew  the  way  of  salvation 
as  truly  as  any  of  his  children  since.  He  knew  he 
was  a  sinner  beyond  a  doubt ;  and  he  knew  that 
God  proclaimed  mercy  to  the  repenting  sinner. 

Mark  !  We  say  he  knew  as  truly ;  we  do  not  say 
he  knew  as  clearly  and  plainly.  The  facts  before 
his  mind  were  less  numerous ;  the  teachings  less  ex- 
plicit ;  and  it  is  difiicult  to  decide  how  well  he  knew 
the  great  principles  of  the  Divine  procedure.  But 
the  gospel  was  then  the  same  that  it  is  now ;  God 
has  ever  saved  guilty  men  through  the  death  of  his 
Son ;  the  sacrifices  instituted  in  the  days  of  Adam, 
were  designed  to  prefigure  the  sufferings  of  Christ; 
and  the  Apostle  Paul  teaches  us  that  Adam  himself 
stood  in  a  remarkable  relation  to  Christ ;  that  he 
17* 


198  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

was  himself  a  figure,  or,  to  use  the  original  word, 
a  type  of  him  that  was  to  come. 

Adam  is  expressly  called  a  type  of  Christ. 
Surely  the  language  contains  important  and  profit- 
able teaching.  And  this  teaching  should  possess 
double  interest,  because  we  learn  from  it  both  the 
relation  sustained  to  his  children  by  Adam,  and  the 
relation  sustained  to  his  people  by  Christ.  The 
covenant  made  with  Christ  as  the  Mediator  between 
Cod  and  man  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  sacred 
writings ;  but,  from  the  evident  meaning  of  Paul, 
Adam  sustained  a  like  relation,  and  was  alike  bound 
by  a  covenant.  So  that  we  establish  the  fact  that 
a  covenant  was  made  with  Adam  for  his  race,  while 
we  learn  of  the  covenant  made  of  God  in  Christ. 

We  should  not  desire  to  separate  these  teachings. 
Distinct  as  the  topics  are ;  much  as  the  angels  in 
heaven  know  of  sin,  though  they  have  never  tasted 
sin ;  much  as  the  devils  in  hell  know  of  salvation, 
though  they  shall  never  be  saved ;  let  sinful  man — 
a  prisoner  of  hope — learn  the  two  lessons  together. 
While  he  knows  of  his  nature  fallen  through  the  first 
Adam,  let  him  know  that  the  Redeemer  of  the  fallen 
bears  the  name  of  the  Second  Adam ;  and  let  him 
understand  that  the  largest  acquaintance  with  our 
ruined  condition  through  the  iijpe  in  Paradise, 
should  produce,  not  rebellion  and  despair,  but  re- 
pentance and  love  through  the  Antitype  of  Calvary. 

It  is  well  worthy  of  our  notice  that  Paul's  entire 
description  of  Adam  and  of  the  relation  borne  by 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  199 

him  to  the  race  in  the  covenant  of  works,  is  inci- 
dental. He  speaks  with  the  air  of  a  man  giving 
instructions  with  which  his  hearers  are  already  fa- 
miliar. We  have  no  such  explanations  as  usually 
accompany  new  lessons;  he  takes  it  for  granted 
that  the  readers  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  are 
already  well  acquainted  with  the  facts  and  princi- 
ples here  mentioned ;  and  the  very  use  he  makes 
of  them  is  proof  that  he  did  not  consider  his  words 
as  conveying  doctrines  either  new  or  strange.  His 
introduction  of  Adam  is  solely  to  illustrate  a  differ- 
ent matter.  This  is  apparent.  As  this,  so  that, 
are  terms  used  by  those  who  would  illustrate.  But 
in  the  very  nature  of  human  language,  and  in  the 
necessities  of  rhetoric,  illustrations  can  properly  be 
drawn  only  from  things  already  understood.  Illus- 
trations to  a  discourse  are  like  windows  to  a  house. 
They  are  designed  to  let  in  the  light ;  and  they 
serve  this  purpose  best,  when  they  are  themselves 
transparent.  Paul  takes  it  for  granted  that  his 
views  concerning  Adam  were  already  well  understood 
in  the  Church  of  God ;  and  though  he  may  not  be  w 
able  to  tell  when  they  were  first  so  clearly  known, 
yet  his  sentiments  seem  only  the  more  forcible  from 
this  manner  of  uttering  them.  They  are  too  plain 
and  too  well  known  to  need  any  argument;  too 
easily  understood  to  need  explanation. 

The  apostle  expressly  tells  us  that  Adam  was  a 
figure  or  type  of  Him  that  was  to  come.  In  an- 
other epistle  he  again  compares  them ;  declares  that 


200  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

as  death  came  by  Adam,  so  life  comes  by  Christ ; 
and  calls  the  one  the  first  and  the  other  the  last 
Adam.  Even  the  name  of  Adam  is  thus  applied  to 
Christ ;  there  must  be  then  a  remarkable  likeness 
between  them.  They  are  not  in  all  points  alike. 
The  one  is  earthly,  the  other  heavenly ;  the  second 
is  every  way  superior  to  the  first ;  yet  ought  we 
carefully  to  consider  both  the  points  of  analogy  and 
the  points  of  difi'erence. 

Adam  was  a  type  of  Christ, 

First,  because  he  stood  as  a  public  person  and  in 
a  representative  capacity,  when  he  ate  the  fruit  of 
the  forbidden  tree. 

Our  reasoning  may  be  the  reverse  of  Paul's,  for 
our  object  is  opposite.  His  design  is  to  illustrate 
salvation  and  the  means  by  which  it  becomes  ours, 
by  the  fall  and  the  means  by  which  we  are  involved 
in  it.  He  explains  Christ  by  Adam.  We  design 
rather  to  explain  Adam  by  Christ;  the  covenant 
of  works  by  the  covenant  of  grace;  the  fall  and 
the  things  implied  in  it,  by  the  gospel  and  its  meth- 
ods. Paul's  facts  and  principles  exactly  suit  our 
purpose ;  and  we  hope  to  reach  the  same  end  with 
Paul,  reasoning  from  his  conclusions  to  his  pre- 
mises. 

That  Christ  was  our  representative  and  suffered 
not  in  a  private  but  a  public  capacity,  no  Christian 
man  can  doubt.  No  private  reasons  urged  the  Son 
of  the  Eternal  to  become  incarnate ;  no  personal 
sinfulness  brought  upon  him  the  sufferings  he  bore; 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  201 

and  the  blessings  secured  by  him  were  for  his  free 
bestowal  upon  others.  He  is  the  Surety  of  a  cove- 
nant ;  he  laid  down  his  life  for  others,  and  great  as 
are  the  mysteries  of  Christ's  redeeming  love,  the 
mystery  of  his  character  and  object,  of  his  griefs  and 
his  success,  is  incomparably  greater ;  indeed  is  en- 
tirely inexplicable,  unless  we  receive  this  simplest 
of  all  truths — that  Christ  Jesus  was  a  public  person 
in  all  his  earthly  work. 

But  if  we  cannot  otherwise  understand  the  posi- 
tion and  influence  of  Christ  than  as  he  was  a  public 
person,  neither  can  we  understand  the  influence  of 
Adam  or  the  comparison  made  between  the  two,  ex- 
cept by  believing  the  same  thing.  The  language 
of  Paul  is  easily  understood,  if  we  acknowledge  the 
public  and  representative  capacity  of  Adam ;  it  is 
impossible  to  see  why  he  speaks  of  him  at  all,  and 
how  we  can  explain  the  facts  he  states,  except  as  we 
do  receive  this.  He  declares  that  sin  entered  by 
one  man's  one  off'ence ;  and  death  comes  by  sin. 
He  anticipates  the  objection  that  a  large  number 
of  our  race  die  who  have  never  sinned,  by  teaching 
that  this  death  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  this 
very  truth,  that  Adam  was  a  type  of  Christ  in  this, 
that  he  was  a  public  person.  His  concise  argument 
is,  "  Wherever  there  is  death  there  is  sin ;  wherever 
there  is  sin  there  is  law ;  wherever  death  comes,  it 
comes  as  the  penalty  of  law,  and  is,  therefore,  the 
proof  of  a  law  violated ;  wherever  such  a  penalty 
comes  upon  those  who  have  not  personally  violated 


202  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

the  law,  thej  must  have  broken  it  by  the  act  of  an- 
other :  and  this  necessarily  implies  the  doctrine  of 
representation."  If  death  passed  upon  all  men  for 
that  all  sinned ;  if  yet  this  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion is  for  the  offence  of  one ;  if  the  disobedience 
of  a  single  one  makes  many  sinners ;  if  death  reigns 
universally,  not  because  of  universal  sinfulness,  but 
because  of  that  one  original  offence, — these  all  are 
terms  utterly  void  of  meaning,  unless  Adam  was 
under  a  covenant,  a  public  and  representative  person. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  203 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   AFFILIATED    DOCTRINES. 

Adam  was  a  type  of  Christ, 

Secondly,  Because  the  principles  that  are  involved 
in  the  gospel  of  Christ  are  implied  in  man's  fall  in 
Adam,  and  the  reception  of  salvation  by  Christ  re- 
quires that  in  consistency  we  should  acknowledge 
our  union  in  Adam. 

We  say  the  principles  are  the  same ;  but  the  ap- 
plication, we  shall  see,  is  for  opposite  purposes. 
"As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive." 

1.  We  need  but  mention,  without  further  repeti- 
tion, that  the  doctrine  of  Representation  belongs 
both  to  Christ  and  to  Adam ;  both  were  public  per- 
sons ;  and  if  we  can  see  that  one  could  stand  in 
this  relation,  no  righteous  principle  forbids  that  the 
other  should.  The  entire  doctrine  of  alfaiement  by 
Christ  rests  upon  his  public  and  representative  cha- 
racter. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  Imputation  as  clearly  belongs 
to  the  true  teachings  concerning  both  Adam  and 
Christ. 


204  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  than  the  negative 
and  the  positive  teachings  of  the  Bible  concerning 
the  sufferings  of  Christ.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is 
denied  that  he  suffered  for  his  own  sins ;  for  he 
knew  no  sin,  was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and 
separate  from  sinners ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
affirmed  that  he  did  suffer  for  the  sins  of  others,  for 
he  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  he 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  he  was  a  ransom  for 
us.  We  say  then  in  view  of  these  statements  that 
our  sins  were  imputed  to  Christ ;  by  which  we  do 
not  mean  that  Christ  became  a  sinner,  for  we  ex- 
pressly affirm  that  he  was  spotless  ;  nor  that  our 
characteristics  were  transferred  to  him;  nor  that  he 
must  feel,  or  could  feel,  the  remorse  which  our  sins 
may  awaken  in  us ;  but  simply  that  he  became  le- 
gally liable  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  broken  law 
for  us.  Liability  to  suffer  for  us  is  the  true  meaning 
of  the  term  when  we  affirm  that  our  sins  were  im- 
puted to  Christ ;  and  this  is  the  only  consistent 
meaning  of  many  passages  of  sacred  teaching: 
"  Christ  also  hath  suffered  for  us,  the  Just  for  the 
unjust;"  "He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us ;" 
"  He  hath  borne  our  iniquity." 

But  the^ctrine  of  imputation  belongs,  in  another 
most  important  sense,  to  the  Scriptural  teachings 
concerning  Christ.  It  is  by  the  imputation  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  that  believers  are  justified 
before  God.  In  vain  would  he  bear  our  sins  if  we 
were  not  justified  by  his  righteousness.     These  things 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  205 

belong  necessarily  together.  If,  as  the  Surety  of 
his  people,  Christ  is  held  liable  for  the  judgment 
against  them,  his  satisfaction  of  the  judgment  is 
their  release.  If  God  has  made  him,  who  knew  no 
sin,  to  be  sin  for  us,  it  is  that  we,  who  knew  no 
righteousness,  should  be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him.  Very  plainly  do  the  Scriptures  deny 
that  any  sinner  can  be  justified  before  God  by  his 
own  works ;  and  as  plainly  do  they  teach  that  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  received  by  faith  is  the  sole 
ground  of  a  sinner's  acceptance. 

But  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  thus  taught  re- 
specting Christ,  is  taught  also  respecting  Adam. 
True  of  Christ  in  two  respects,  it-  is  true  of  Adam 
in  one  respect.  As  our  covenant  head,  Christ  suf- 
fers for  us,  and  we  receive  the  benefit  of  his  public 
acts.  As  our  covenant  head,  we  fell  in  Adam. 
Look  at  Paul's  contrasted  words  through  all  this 
passage.  Rom.  v.  12 — 21.  Law  is  by  Adam,  grace 
is  by  Christ ;  death  is  by  Adam,  life  is  by  Christ ; 
condemnation  by  Adam,  justification  by  Christ ; 
disobedience  by  Adam,  obedience  by  Christ ;  sin  is 
by  Adam,  righteousness  is  by  Christ ;  the  only  ex- 
ception, as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  arises  from  the  su- 
periority of  the  second  Adam  in  all  he  is  and  was. 

Nor  should  we  omit  to  say  that  while  the  doctrine 
of  imputation  is  thus  essentially  involved  in  both 
the  covenants,  of  which  Christ  and  Adam  are  the 
Federal  Heads  respectively,  the  usual  cavillings  of 
men  against  the  doctrine  as  urged  in  regard  to 
18 


206  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

Adam  may  be  answered  most  clearly  by  just 
thoughts  of  imputation  in  regard  to  Christ.  And 
every  ingenuous  mind  may  find  a  reply  to  its  own 
chief  difficulties  by  carefully  noticing  these  analogies. 
Is  it  objected  that  Adam's  sin  must  be  his  own 
and  cannot  be  ours  ;  and  that  every  man  must  suf- 
fer for  his  own  sins  ?  Make  the  objection  true  and 
consistent ;  and  salvation  is  impossible  to  man. 
Unless  Christ  suffered  for  sins  that  were  not  per- 
sonally his  own,  we  never  can  be  saved.  Is  it  ob- 
jected that  character  cannot  be  transferred  ?  We 
reply  that,  as  before  declared,  this  is  not  the  proper 
meaning  of  imputation.  It  refers  to  legal  responsi- 
bility ;  and  in  this  sense  the  analogy  holds  between 
Christ  and  Adam.  Paul's  words  are  of  equal  force 
in  the  two  directions :  "  As  by  one  man's  disobe- 
dience many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience 
of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous."  Is  it  ob- 
jected that  we  cannot  feel  remorse  for  the  sin  of 
Adam  in  which  we  are  condemned  ?  It  is  an  exact 
reply  to  say,  neither  can  we  feel  any  self  compla- 
cency for  the  righteousness  of  Christ  by  which  we 
are  justified.  Yet  we  may  feel  humbled  that  we  are 
fallen  in  Adam ;  and  we  may  feel  grateful  that  we 
rise  in  Christ. 

3.  To  affirm  the  existence  of  the  covenant 
of  works  with  Adam  as  our  head  in  it,  and  the 
covenant  of  grace  with  Christ  as  our  head  in  it, 
alone  can  explain  these  preceding  doctrines,  and 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  207 

the  facts  as  we  are  taught  them  by  the  word  and 
providence  of  God. 

All  that  we  are  able  to  learn  of  Christ  may  be 
made  to  illustrate  what  we  would  know  of  Adam  ; 
and  all  we  know  of  Adam  may  illustrate  the  truth 
respecting  Christ.  For,  in  Paul's  teachings,  the 
correspondence  between  them  is  almost  entirely 
exact.  There  are  differences  as  we  shall  see.  But 
in  the  chief  principle  of  their  respective  positions, 
that  a  covenant  was  made  with  both,  they  are  as 
alike  as  possible.  The  method  of  man's  ruin  cor- 
responds to  the  method  of  his  recovery.  In  both 
cases  it  is  through  another.  In  Adam,  our  natural 
father,  his  children  stood  in  Eden.  Adam  sinned. 
We  thus  became  sinners,  are  under  condemnation, 
and  suffer  death.  In  Christ,  our  spiritual  Head, 
his  people  stood.  He  satisfied  the  broken  law. 
We  are  made  righteous  by  one  man's  obedience ; 
his  righteousness  is  the  ground  of  our  justification ; 
we  partake  of  eternal  life  through  him.  All  is 
clear  if  we  believe  the  doctrines  of  the  two  cove- 
nants, of  vicarious  substitution,  of  representation, 
and  imputation ;  but  we  have  no  key  to  unlock  these 
intricate  mysteries,  if  these  things  are  not  true  both 
of  the  first  and  the  second  Adam. 


208  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE    SECOND   ADAM    GREATER. 

•'  Where  sin  did  reign  and  death  abound, 
There  have  the  sons  of  Adam  found 
Abounding  life  ;  there  glorious  grace 
Reigns  through  the  Lord  our  righteousness." 

Watts. 

But,  thirdly,  the  parallel  between  Adam  and 
Christ  is  not  complete.  We  ought  to  bring  clearly 
into  view  the  great  and  precious  truth  that  Christ 
is  greater  than  Adam.  The  apostle  gives  us  occa- 
sion for  devout  thanksgiving  when  he  declares,  that 
the  sin  and  the  gift  are  not  alike  ;  for  "  where  sin 
abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound." 
The  points  of  superiority  are  such  as  these : 
1.  Condemnation  is  by  law  and  justice;  salvation 
is  by  gift  and  grace.  We  have  no  just  ideas  upon 
these  topics,  unless  we  acknowledge  the  entire  right- 
eousness of  God  in  man's  condemnation,  and  recog- 
nize his  sovereignty  and  grace  in  our  recovery. 
But  how  glorious  is  the  conception  of  grace  to  those 
who  are  condemned  by  a  law  so  holy !  So  excellent 
is  this,  that  the  Scriptures  speak  of  God  himself 


ADAM   AND  HIS   TIMES.  209 

glorying  In  it ;  and  commending  his  love  for  sinners, 
as  he  commends  no  other  of  the  Divine  acts.  There 
was  nothing  to  excite  the  wonder  of  adoring  angels 
when  God  executed  his  wrath  upon  Satan  and  his 
hosts ;  but  to  see  the  exercise  of  love  and  grace, 
and  especially  by  methods  so  wonderful  as  the  death 
of  his  own  Son,  towards  rebellious  men,  might  well 
aifect  them  with  the  greatest  surprise  and  admira- 
tion. Nor  do  we  have  just  views  of  Christ's  com- 
ing to  save,  except  when  we  refer  it  to  the  sovereign, 
unmerited  grace  of  God,  wonderful  alike  as  shown 
in  his  Son  and  to  the  rebellious. 

2.  Recovery  is  always  more  diificult  than  ruin  ; 
to  destroy  is  always  more  easy  than  to  repair.  One 
fatal  sin  brought  wretchedness  upon  our  race,  as  a 
spark  may  kindle  a  conflagration  in  whose  fiery 
path  innumerable  palaces  and  countless  stores  of 
wealth  may  be  reduced  to  ashes.  But  not  so 
easy  was  the  taek  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  it  is  to 
the  glory  of  Christ,  that  he  shrank  not  back  from 
the  work  of  man's  salvation,  although  even  by  him 
it  was  not  easily  accomplished. 

3.  The  apostle  makes  a  distinct  point  of  contrast 
in  the  facts  that  by  one  sin  of  Adam  the  race  is 
ruined ;  but  that  by  Christ's  work  his  people  are  re- 
deemed, not  only  from  that  one  oifence,  but  also 
from  their  own  numerous  and  aggravated  oifences. 
If  it  is  amazing  grace  that  forgives  a  single  sin, 
how  may  we  magnify  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ 
by  which  the  manifold  iniquities  of  a  man,  the  mul- 

18* 


210  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

tiplied  transgressions  of  so  many  men,  the  aggra- 
vated guilt  of  the  chief  of  sinners,  are  so  freely 
forgiven  ! 

4.  Christ  is  superior  to  Adam,  for  the  effect  of 
His  grace  upon  every  believer  does  much  more  than 
restore  him  to  the  estate  from  which  Adam  fell. 

What  man  has  lost  in  the  fall  of  Adam  is  much 
less  than  what  is  gained  by  the  redemption  of  Christ. 
Not  only  is  the  enmity  of  sinful  minds  taken  away 
in  Christ ;  not  only  the  image  of  God  restored  to 
the  soul ;  not  only  the  darkened  mind  enlightened  ; 
the  perverted  will  renewed ;  the  defiled  conscience 
purified ;  and  the  grovelling  affections  elevated. 
We  are  not  placed  by  Christ  in  a  new  state  of  pro- 
bation, in  which  our  righteousness  is  to  secure  for 
us  the  favour  of  our  God.  Salvation  by  Christ  is 
not  only  by  grace,  upon  terms  wholly  different  from 
man's  original  standing  under  the  covenant  of  works, 
but  it  places  us  in  a  more  glorious  estate.  Adam 
was  liable  to  fall ;  Christ's  people  can  never  perish. 
Though  Adam  and  his  race  had  the  prospect  of 
eternal  life,  they  never  secured  it ;  but  the  people 
of  Christ  shall  surely  enter  upon  the  possession  of 
everlasting  peace. 

5.  Christ  Jesus,  as  the  Second  Adam,  is  superior 
to  Adam  the  first,  because  of  his  unquestionable 
and  infallible  accomplishment  of  the  great  work  he 
has  undertaken  for  the  salvation  of  his  people. 

How  excellent  was  the  object  of  the  first  cove- 
nant, had  our  first  father  stood  in  Paradise !  how 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  211 

disastrous  was  his  fall !  Can  we  entertain  the  fear 
that  like  disaster,  or  even  failure,  at  any  point,  or 
for  any  child  of  the  covenant,  is  possible  to  Him 
whom  now  we  are  called  to  trust  ?  Here  is  a  most 
important  point  of  Christ's  superiority,  that  his 
work  cannot  possibly  fail.  Well  may  our  Mediator 
be  called  the  Surety  of  a  better  covenant ;  for  his 
redeemed  people  none  can  pluck  out  of  his  hand. 

We  might  argue  this  conclusion  from  the  infinite 
perfections  of  the  Divine  character ;  from  the  excel- 
lency of  our  glorious  Redeemer ;  from  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  covenant  made  of  God  in  Christ ;  from 
the  express  teachings  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  from 
the  superior  security  thus  afforded  to  the  people  of 
Christ. 

The  great  work  of  God  for  his  own  glory  is  not 
one  of  doubtful  accomplishment.  The  All-knowing, 
the  Almighty  has  not  undertaken  what  he  cannot 
do ;  nor  promised  to  the  Son  what  he  cannot  fulfil. 
That  must  be  a  false  view  of  the  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion which  represents  God  as  defeated,  or  the  Son 
of  God  as  disappointed  in  the  results.  It  is  strange, 
indeed,  if  Christ  suffers  in  a  public  capacity,  fulfils 
all  the  terms  demanded  of  him  as  a  Surety,  and 
yet  receives  not  in  full  the  promised  reward.  The 
Father  doeth  his  pleasure ;  the  promises  of  God  are 
sure ;  the  Son  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul 
and  shall  be  satisfied.  Christ's  words  are  explicit. 
"All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall   come  to  me, 


tl2  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

and  him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out." 

We  understand  that  the  covenant  of  grace  was 
made  with  Christ  for  his  chosen  people,  for  his 
spiritual  seed,  and  that  every  soul  interested  in  it 
shall  receive  the  reward  of  His  work.  As  the  former 
covenant  was  for  Adam's  natural  seed,  so  the  second 
covenant  is  for  Christ's  spiritual  seed.  So  Christ 
lays  down  his  life  for  his  sheep ;  so  he  laid  hold, 
not  on  the  seed  of  Adam,  but  on  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham ;  so  he  made  with  David  "  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,"  2  Sam.  xxiii. 
5 ;  so  he  promises  to  every  repenting  soul  to  make 
with  him  "  an  everlasting  covenant,  even  the  sure 
mercies  of  David,"  Isa.  Iv.  3.  We  do  not  under- 
stand that  the  covenant  made  with  Christ  includes 
the  entire  race  of  man,  in  the  same  sense  that  this" 
is  true  of  the  covenant  made  with  Adam.  This 
cannot  be  true,  unless  we  receive  the  doctrine  of 
universal  salvation ;  and  even  this  upon  grounds 
entirely  different  from  the  usual  advocacy  of  its 
modern  defenders.  A  dogma  contradicted  so  ex- 
pressly by  the  Bible,  and  by  the  entire  scope  of  its 
teachings,  cannot  form  part  of  our  faith.  We  can- 
not believe  that  Christ  died  for  the  men  who  per- 
ished in  the  flood,  just  as  for  Noah  who  was  saved 
in  the  ark ;  for  the  Sodomites,  as  for  Abraham  who 
vainly  prayed  that  God  would  spare  them ;  for  the 
presumptuous  king  who  perished  in  the  Red  Sea, 
and  for  the  believing  prophet  who  led  Israel  through 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  213 

dry-shod.  All  these  had  already  passed  from  earth 
before  Christ  died ;  and  we  cannot  believe  that  he 
had  any  design  to  save  those  who  had  already 
perished.  In  reference  to  all  the  past  and  all  the 
future  of  the  human  family,  the  designs  of  the  Re- 
demeer  for  salvation  are  entirely  like  the  accom- 
plishment of  them ;  and  he  cannot  fail  to  complete 
the  entire  work  he  has  undertaken. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  explain  why  God  has  not 
made  salvation  universal  for  the  human  family. 
We  must  content  ourselves  with  believing  what  he 
has  revealed  in  his  w^ord  and  providence ;  and  it  is 
ours  to  believe  that  reasons  of  infinite  wisdom  and 
rectitude  govern  all  he  does.  We  are  well  aware 
that  many  perplexities  attend  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  topics  like  these.  Yet  we  believe  that  fewer 
difficulties  gather  around  the  truth  as  thus  held, 
than  around  any  other  explanation  of  the  covenant 
of  grace ;  while  there  are  special  advantages  be- 
longing to  these  views.  If  there  is  a  covenant, 
that  covenant  ought  to  be  carried  out.  Did  Christ 
undertake  what  he  could  not  perform  ?  or  the  Fa- 
ther promise  what  he  will  not  fulfil  ?  May  one 
man  be  truly  bought  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
and  yet  perish  for  ever  ?  What  then  is  the  assur- 
ance to  any  other  man,  that  he  may  not  also  perish  ? 
The  chief  encouragement  that  ought  to  lead  any 
man  to  trust  Christ  is  this  great  fact,  that  no 
soul  interested  in  this  everlasting  covenant  can 
perish.     We  may  well  trust   the  salvation  of  our 


214  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

souls  to  such  a  Redeemer.  Well  might  Paul  say, 
*'  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded 
that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed 
unto  him  against  that  day."     2  Tim.  i.  12. 

Many  persons  are  perplexed  with  some  aspects 
of  this  matter.  Especially  they  say,  How  can  God 
offer  salvation  to  every  creature  that  hears  the  gos- 
pel ?  or  how  can  I  trust  to  Christ  unless  I  know 
that  he  has  died  for  me  ?  But  the  same  difficulty 
in  regard  to  the  Divine  sincerity  must  arise  from 
God's  foreknowledge  upon  any  view  of  the  atone- 
ment ;  and  it  is  never  true  that  our  duties  depend 
upon  a  previous  acquaintance  with  the  purposes  of 
God.  The  chief  difficulty  upon  the  entire  subject 
of  salvation,  as  presented  in  the  Scriptures,  arises 
from  the  fact  that  men  perplex  themselves  to  dis- 
cover how  God  and  man  can  both  be  free.  It  arises 
from  God's  infinite  perfection,  that  all  his  plans  are 
complete  and  unchangeable ;  how  this  can  be,  when 
he  deals  with  sinful  and  fallible  men,  we  cannot 
comprehend.  Yet  these  facts  we  may  know :  God 
is  sovereign  and  immutable,  and  man  is  free  and 
accountable.  How  this  is  so,  we  presume  not  to 
explain ;  but  no  reasonable  man  can  gainsay  the 
facts. 

If  the  question  be  asked.  Upon  what  grounds  may 
a  sinner  come  to  Christ  and  hope  for  salvation 
through  his  atonement,  when  he  does  not  know  that 
he  is  among  the  number  of  those  given  to  Christ  by 
the  Father  ?  we  need  not  go  far  to  find  an  answer. 


ADAM    AND    UIS   TIMES.  215 

We  have  better  hopes  of  a  sure  salvation,  and  we 
have  the  same  assurance  of  our  acceptance,  that  we 
could  have  upon  any  other  view  of  the  work  of 
Christ.  Let  any  man  consider  upon  any  view  of 
the  atonement,  what  is  the  true  reason  to  hope  that 
God  will  receive  us.  Is  it  not  the  promise  op  god  ? 
He  pledgeth  himself  that  whosoever  believeth  shall 
be  saved.  We  do  not  need  to  read  his  secret  coun- 
sels in  order  to  learn  our  duties  or  our  privileges. 
We  know  from  w^hat  he  has  said,  that  every  believer 
shall  be  saved ;  indeed  we  have  his  oath  and  his 
promise,  "  that  by  two  immutable  things  in  which 
it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have 
strong  consolation  who  have  fled  to  lay  hold  on  the 
hope  set  before  us  in  the  gospel."  Heb.  vi.  18. 
And  these  two  great  things — the  redemption  of  a 
chosen  people,  and  the  gracious  assurance  of  accep- 
tance to  every  humble  sinner,  are  by  our  Lord  di- 
rectly connected  with  each  other.  "  All  that  the 
Father  giveth  me,  shall  come  to  me,  and  him  that 
Cometh  unto  me  I  w^ill  in  no  wise  cast  out."  John 
vi.  37. 

This  is  the  excellence  of  the  work  of  Christ,  that 
it  shall  certainly  and  fully  be  accomplished.  The 
first  Adam  failed,  the  second  Adam  cannot.  Surely 
this  ought  to  be  a  reason  of  the  most  urgent  nature, 
to  lead  every  sinful  soul  to  seek  an  interest  in  this 
great  salvation.  And  the  various  perplexities  that 
spring  up,  and  which  multiply  because  neither  our 
ignorance  nor  our   depravity  will  allow  us  to  see 


216  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

things  as  God  sees  them,  jet  should  not  he  allowed 
to  cloud  the  plain  teachings  of  the  Bible,  or  to  hin- 
der our  acceptance  of  its  precious  promises.  Let  us 
seriously  ask  counsel  of  God  in  regard  to  some  of 
our  perplexities,  refer  others  absolutely  to  his  will; 
and  find  in  all  of  them,  reasons  for  devout  thanks- 
giving that  the  most  needful  teachings  are  the 
plainest. 

These  are  plain  truths,  that  we  are  guilty  and 
lost  sinners ;  that  we  have  sinned  much,  and  long, 
and  wilfully  ;  and  that  we  must  perish  if  we  are  not 
renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  interested  in  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ.  And  these  are  truths  as 
plain,  that  Christ  is  able  to  save ;  that  his  blood  is 
efficacious  to  purge  the  vilest ;  that  he  proclaims 
salvation  in  our  ears,  invites  every  sinner  to  come, 
and  promises  that  for  no  reason  in  the  world  will 
he  cast  out  any  one  who  does  come.  Both  these 
classes  of  truths  are  as  plain  as  the  word  of  God 
can  make  them.  Let  any  one  read  the  fifty-fifth 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  decide  if  any  larger  or  freer 
terms  could  be  offered  to  men.  "  Ho,  every  one  ! 
come  without  money,"  come  with  perplexity,  come 
with  sin,  come  with  fear;  but  come.  "Incline 
your  ear  and  come  unto  me ;  hear,  and  your  souls 
shall  live ;  and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David."  It 
cannot  be  expected  that  one  can  know  all  th^  depths 
of  mercy  in  this  gracious  God,  for  he  adds  by  the 
prophet  this  express  assurance,  "  My  thoughts  are 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  217 

not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways, 
saith  the  Lord." 

Happy  is  the  man  who  joins  his  soul  to  God  in 
Christ  in  the  bonds  of  this  '^  everlasting  covenant 
ordered  in  all  things  and  sure."  It  has  no  excel- 
lency superior  to  this,  that  it  cannot  fail;  and 
Christ  Jesus  has  no  glory  greater  than  this,  that  he 
is  able  and  willing  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that 
come  unto  Grod  by  him.  No  man  can  defeat  the 
Divine  purposes,  or  defraud  the  Redeemer  of  his  re- 
ward. Sinful  men  can  refuse  the  mercy  of  God  to 
their  own  just  condemnation.  But  whosoever  ac- 
cepts the  Divine  offers,  and  joins  himself  to  God  in 
this  covenant,  shall  certainly  be  saved.  How  gladly 
should  men  say  to  each  other,  as  they  ask  the  way  to 
Zion  and  have  their  faces  thitherward,  ''  Come  and 
let  us  join  ourselves  to  the  Lord,  in  a  perpetual 
covenant  that  shall  not  be  forgotten!"  Jer.  1.  5. 
19 


218  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Adam's  first  born  sons. 

From  these  thoughts  upon  the  union  of  our  race 
in  our  first  father,  it  is  proper  now  to  pass  on  to 
the  subsequent  events  in  his  history. 

It  is  likely  that  the  mercy  of  God,  mingled  with 
the  sentence  pronounced  upon  them,  and  especially 
the  promise  of  a  coming  Redeemer,  led  our  first  pa- 
Tents  to  the  exercise  of  a  genuine  repentance.  The 
plan  of  salvation,  at  least  so  far  as  it  is  taught  in 
the  solemn  ofi*ering  of  typical  sacrifices,  was  doubt- 
less explained  to  them  ;  and  their  faith  was  directed 
towards  atoning  blood,  and  yet  taught  to  look  for- 
ward to  the  coming  Sufferer.  We  can  hardly  think 
that  principles  and  services  so  significant  would  be 
so  abruptly  begun  among  men,  with  no  special  design, 
and  with  no  understanding  of  their  meaning.  We  find 
these  things  introduced  into  the  history  as  abruptly 
as  possible.  Adam  and  Eve  were  clothed  in  skins ; 
aid  we  are  not  told  whence  the  skins  were  derived. 
But  as  animal  food  was  not  then  eaten,  it  is  natural 
to  conclude  that  the  beasts  were  slain  in  sacrifice. 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  219 

We  find  Abel  oflfering  a  sacrifice  and  accepted  by 
faith ;  but  the  language  seems  to  imply  that  he  here 
fulfils  duties  already  familiar  to  man.  We  conclude 
from  these  things,  that  God  gave  Adam  directions 
for  his  worship,  such  as  suited  a  sinner ;  and  we 
hope,  rather  than  know,  that  our  first  parents  re- 
pented of  their  sins,  worshipped  God  acceptably 
occording  to  his  directions,  and  found  forgiveness 
through  atoning  blood.  We  cannot  judge  that  they 
clearly  knew  the  things  revealed  to  us  ;  but  we  are 
to  recognize  that  God's  method  of  saving  sinners 
was  the  same  then  as  now. 

But  the  forgiveness  of  a  penitent  according  to 
God's  method  of  mercy,  is  not  the  same  as  an  im- 
mediate restoration  to  an  estate  of  innocence.  Even 
forgiven  Adam  must  go  forth  from  Paradise,  and 
be  debarred  access  to  the  tree  of  life.  As  we  see 
now  in  the  experience  of  the  church  that  regenerated 
souls  are  not  souls  made  perfect  in  holiness ;  as  God 
designs  to  fit  his  people  for  his  service,  not  by  com- 
pleting at  once  and  without  various  means,  the  work 
of  making  them  like  himself;  as  long  conflict  with 
temptation,  and  many  checkered  scenes  make  up 
the  life  of  the  true  believer,  so  our  first  parents 
must  go  forth  from  their  pleasant  home,  and 
submit  to  the  evils  their  foll}^  and  sin  had  intro- 
duced. The  free  forgiveness  of  sin  according  to 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  does  not  stay  the  natural 
results  of  sin  already  committed,  nor  defeat  the 
workinors  of  God's  well  ordered  laws. 


220  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

We  may  well  suppose  that  Adam  and  Eve  were 
deeply  grieved  and  humbled  by  their  expulsion 
from  the  garden.  We  can  easily  adopt  as  the 
lamentation  of  Eve  the  familiar  lines  of  Milton  : — 

"  Must  I  leave  thee,  Paradise  ?     Thus  leave 
Thee,  native  soil,  these  happy  walks  and  shades, 
Fit  haunt  of  gods  ?  where  I  had  hoped  to  spend, 
Quiet  though  sad,  the  respite  of  that  day 

That  must  be  mortal  to  us  both 

.  .  .  How  shall  we  breathe  in  other  air 
Less  pure,  accustomed  to  immortal  fruits  ?" 

Nor  less  was  that  a  proof  of  their  fallen  estate 
that  an  angel  and  a  flaming  sword  should  guard  the 
gate,  and  should  forbid  them  to  approach  the  Tree 
of  Life. 

The  incidents  recorded  in  the  long  lives  of  Adam 
and  Eve  are  few ;  and  the  names  of  but  a  few  of 
their  children  are  given.  As  the  human  race  at- 
tained to  extraordinary  age  in  these  early  times, 
we  cannot  decide  certainly  whether  the  adult  period 
was  reached  in  twenty  years  as  now,  or  whether  it 
came  later.  Yet  we  know  that  this  period  came 
then  earlier  than  to  us  in  proportion  to  the  length 
of  life.  Their  years  were  tenfold  ours  ;  but  their 
adult  period  was  not  two  hundred  as  compared  with 
our  twenty.  We  read  of  fathers  at  sixty-five,  se- 
venty, and  ninety ;  and  it  may  be  true,  that  the 
childhood  of  the  Antediluvians  was  no  longer  than 
the  childhood  that  belongs  to  our  briefer  term  of 
life.      It   is   very   easy   to   show,    upon   any   re^.' 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  221 

sonable  supposition,  that  the  advance  in  population 
must  have  been  rapid.  Within  a  few  hundred  years 
from  the  creation,  many  thousands  of  men  lived  up- 
on the  earth. 

The  first-born  in  the  family  of  Adam  was  named 
Cain.  We  can  easily  imagine  that  it  was  an  hour 
of  joy  in  the  earth  when  this  child  was  born.  The 
love  of  a  mother  for  her  first-born  is  proverbial.  A 
new  affection  is  then  also  born ;  and  it  comes  with 
a  vigour  and  freshness  that  fills  the  mind  with  de- 
light as  she  gazes  upon  the  helpless  being  entrusted 
to  her  care.  But  how  strong  was  this  affection  in 
Eve  as  she  looked  upon  the  first  of  first-born  !  and 
her  rejoicing  at  his  birth  was  greater,  if  she  mistook 
him — as  it  is  generally  thought — for  the  promised 
seed.  The  name  Cain  signifies  possession ;  for 
said  she,  "I  have  gotten  a  man,  the  Lord." 

Alas  !  how  wonderfully  may  the  fond  hopes  of  a 
mother  be  disappointed.  She  looks  with  affection  upon 
her  infant  boy  ;  she  shields  him  from  all  evil  which  a 
mother's  care  can  ward  off;  she  tenderly  cares  for 
his  helplessness,  and  supplies  his  wants ;  but  he  will 
soon  go  forth  to  scenes  over  which  a  mother  cannot 
watch ;  to  dangers  from  which  a  mother  cannot  pro- 
tect ;  and  to  sins  that  may  change  a  mother's  early 
joy  to  the  deepest  grief.  What  a  contrast  between 
Eve's  hopes  when  she  thought  that  her  first-born  would 
avenge  her  quarrel  with  the  serpent,  and  the  sad 
reality  in  the  subsequent  history  of  Cain !  The  re- 
sponsibility of  a  parent's  care  should  always  chasten 


.52^  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

the  joy  with  which  we  look  upon  our  beloved  chil- 
dren, and  the  hopes  we  entertain  of  what  they  are 
to  be.  And  doubtless  we  would  have  wiser  parents 
and  happier  children,  if  both  could  better  realize  how 
much  their  usefulness  and  happiness  are  mutually 
dependent.  A  parent  may  do  much  to  form  the  child 
for  future  good  or  evil ;  and  the  misconduct  of  a 
child  may  bring  grief  and  sorrow  upon  an  aged 
parent. 

There  was  a  great  difference  in  character  be- 
tween the  two  eldest  sons  of  Adam,  whose  names 
are  given  us.  Something  of  this  may  be  traced  to 
a  great  difference  in  natural  disposition,  and  per- 
haps healthfulness.  The  different  occupations  of 
the  two  may  give  us  a  hint  of  this.  Cain  was  a 
tiller  of  the  ground.  Doubtless  the  arts  of  agricul- 
ture were  rude  at  first ;  as  even  to  this  day,  a  very 
imperfect  system  of  tillage  prevails  in  all  the  lands 
of  the  Bible.  And  in  that  early  age,  the  earth  may 
have  felt  so  little  the  influence  of  the  curse ;  thorns 
had  spread  so  little  abroad,  and  land  was  so 
abundant,  that  the  tiller's  occupation  may  not  have 
exacted  so  severe  labour  as  now.  Still,  the  toil  of 
cultivating  the  earth  was  greater  than  was  required 
for  a  shepherd's  life.  Adam  trained  both  for  in- 
dustry. But  the  name  Abel  signifies  vanity.  It  is 
not  uncommon  in  the  East  to  change  the  name  after 
any  important  event.  This  name  seems  so  signifi- 
cant of  his   early  removal  from  earth,  that  we  are 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  223 

almost  led  to  judge  that  it  was  given  after  his  death, 
or  that  it  was  dictated  by  a  prophetic  spirit. 

Yet  the  name  may  indicate  a  weak  and  feeble 
constitution.  And  that  he  possessed  such,  may  be 
the  reason  for  assigning  to  him  the  lighter  duties 
of  a  shepherd.  But  the  engagements  of  the  bro- 
thers were  alike  useful  and  honourable.  Few  en- 
gagements afford  better  opportunities  for  self- 
culture  and  improvement  than  both  of  these.  In 
both  there  are  advantages  for  solitary  thought ;  oc- 
casions to  notice  the  providences  of  God,  and  much 
dependence  upon  the  Divine  blessing  for  success.  A 
nation  is  prosperous  where  these  two  earliest  occu- 
pations of  men  prosper ;  and  corruption  of  morals 
and  manners  is  less  likely  to  prevail  where  either 
the  pastoral  or  the  agricultural  interest  is  chiefly 
promoted. 

We  judge  that,  of  course,  Adam  taught  his  sons 
the  principles  and  duties  of  religion,  and  trained 
them  to  the  acts  of  worship  enjoined  upon  him. 
Yet  we  gather  what  these  were  only  from  the  narra- 
tive. It  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Bible 
that  some  of  our  most  important  religious  services 
are  spoken  of  familiarly  with  no  account  of  their 
origin.  In  the  New  Testament,  baptism,  first  with 
John  in  the  wilderness,  and  afterwards  by  Christ 
and  his  disciples,  is  spoken  of  as  a  religious  service; 
of  whose  origin  we  have  no  account,  and  whose  de- 
sign we  gather  from  various  teachings.  So  in  the 
Old  Testament  when  we  first  meet  with  sacrifice,  it 


224  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

is  already  an  established  rite ;  no  account  is  given 
of  its  institution,  and  its  design  is  learned  from 
far  later  teachings. 

We  are  told  that  the  sons  of  Adam  both  wor- 
shipped God.  "  In  process  of  time,"  it  is  said,  they 
brought  their  offerings.  The  margin  reads,  *'  at 
the  end  of  days."  It  seems  to  be  at  an  appointed 
time,  and  may  mean,  as  some  interpreters  understand 
it,  upon  the  Sabbath-day.  "We  cannot  suppose,  of 
course,  that  Adam  taught  his  sons  different  methods 
of  worship  ;  yet  we  find  them  offering  diverse  things, 
and  their  acceptance  was  not  alike  before  God. 
Alas !  this  fruit  of  sin  was  not  wanting  in  the  very 
family  of  Adam,  that  so  early  in  the  history  of  the 
race,  perverse  worship  is  offered  to  God,  and  the 
simple  faith  of  the  gospel  is  despised  by  man's 
proud  powers  of  reason. 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  225 


CHAPTER   XXYII. 

THE  WORSHIP    OF   CAIN. 

We  are  suddenly  introduced  in  the  inspired  nar- 
rative to  the  first  recorded  acts  of  human  worship : 
with  no  immediate  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
these  things,  we  have  no  assigned  cause  for  the 
rejection  of  one  worshipper  and  the  acceptance  of 
the  other.  Yet  we  are  not  to  judge  from  the  silence 
of  the  inspired  pages,  that  these  two  brothers  who 
stand  before  the  same  God,  had  received  no  instruc- 
tions as  to  God's  requirements  for  acceptable  service. 
They  knew  how  to  approach  him ;  and  as  the  prin- 
ciples of  appropriate  worship  were  the  same  then  as 
in  later  times,  we  also  may  know  the  nature  of  their 
offerings,  and  the  reasons  of  God's  diverse  dealings 
with  them. 

We  see  these  brothers  approach  God  with  differ- 
ent offerings.  If  we  judge  according  to  the  princi- 
ples of  human  reasonings,  we  may  be  disposed  to 
conclude  that  both  their  offerings  are  such  as  we 
might  expect  them  to  bring.  When  a  man  brings 
the  best  he  has  to  God ;  when  he  offers  the  fruit  of 


226  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

his  own  toil ;  when  he  acknowledges  his  suhjection 
to  Divine  authority,  and  his  dependence  upon  the 
Divine  will,  would  we  not  suppose  that  he  would  be 
accepted  ?  Cain  was  a  cultivator  of  the  earth,  and 
it  seemed  suitable  that  he  should  bring  the  things 
which  sprung  up  from  the  earth  through  his  toil.  Abel 
was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  and  the  increase  of  his  flock 
seemed  a  fitting  offering  on  his  part.  The  Almighty 
indeed  did  not  need  any  offering  from  either  of  them. 
But  it  was  by  his  blessing  that  their  labours  had 
proved  productive  ;  and  these,  his  dependent  crea- 
tures, ought  thankfully  to  acknowledge  his  care. 
It  seems  reasonable  that  each  should  bring  what  has 
come  of  his  own  toils. 

But  we  will  make  a  great  mistake  if  we  reason  in 
this  way,  and  leave  out  of  view  that  these  were  not 
gimply  God's  creatures  coming  to  worship  their 
Creator ;  but  that  they  were  sinful  beings  approach- 
ing that  God  whose  mercy  they  should  implore. 
The  offering  that  might  be  becoming  in  a  holy  be- 
ing might  be  insulting,  should  a  sinner  presume  to 
approach,  as  if  there  was  nothing  between  him  and 
his  God.  It  would  seem  from  the  narrative  that  Cain 
was  no  atheist ;  he  recognized  a  God;  recognized 
the  true  God ;  recognized  his  dependence  upon 
God ;  was  willing  to  express  his  gratitude  to  God ; 
but  he  did  not  come  as  a  sinner,  and  no  part  of  his 
offering  gave  any  token  of  penitence.  If  even  we 
believe,  though  it  is  not  expressly  said,  that  Cain 
brought  of  the  first  fruits  and  of  the  chief  fruits  of 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  227 

his  labours,  still  this  was  no  acceptable  offering 
from  a  sinner.  The  covenant  of  works  was  broken ; 
man's  best  deeds  were  already  defiled  ;  Cain  cannot 
find  God's  favour  thus. 

The  ofi'ering  of  Abel  was  different  in  its  nature. 
He  offered  a  lamb ;  but  he  offered  its  blood.  The 
sacrifice  of  the  altar  was  the  method  of  acceptable 
approach  to  God. 

It  is  surely  a  remarkable  thing  that  the  offering 
of  bleeding  sacrifices  should  be  so  universal  among 
men.  And  we  can  give  no  reasonable  account  of 
such  a  service,  unless  we  receive  the  teachings  of 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  learn  here  the  impor- 
tant principles  which  belong  to  this  method  of  wor- 
ship. We  shall  speak  in  a  subsequent  chapter  of 
Abel  and  his  offering,  and  then  attempt  to  unfold 
more  clearly  the  signification  of  this  rite.  Suffice 
it  here  to  say,  that  as  prophecy  in  Eden  had  already 
declared  the  coming  of  the  Woman's  Seed,  the 
great  Deliverer  and  Redeemer  of  fallen  man ;  so 
sacrifice  was  instituted  to  typify  him  as  the  Lamb 
of  God,  who  should  bleed  and  die  to  take  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.  So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the 
chief  explanations  of  this  were  given  long  after- 
wards ;  but  it  is  likely  that  the  first  worshippers 
were  taught  something  of  the  meaning  of  this  solemn 
rite.  Indeed,  mysterious  as  it  is  in  some  of  its 
aspects,  the  service  explained  itself  before  the  eyes 
of  all  who  offered  it.  How  could  any  man  confess 
his  sins  solemnly  over  the  head  of  a  living  animal, 


228  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

pour  out  its  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  rude  altar,  offer 
it  then  in  the  burning  flame,  and  know  that  all  this 
was  by  the  command  of  God,  without  understanding 
that  by  this  service  must  be  set  forth  some  signifi- 
cance of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  ? 

We  are  told  that  Abel  offered  his  sacrifice  in 
faith ;  and  the  implication  is  that  Cain's  offering 
was  one  of  unbelief.  Yet  very  plainly  it  was  not 
unbelief  in  God's  existence ;  nor  was  it  an  entire 
refusal  to  recognize  his  claims.  Had  Cain  felt  thus, 
he  would  have  brought  nothing.  Cain  worshipped 
God  according  to  his  own  pleasure,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  the  Divine  direction.  Religion  for  a  sinner 
is  a  matter  of  revelation,  not  of  reason ;  and  thus 
early  in  the  history  of  the  world  the  line  of  distinc- 
tion between  these  two  things  is  clearly  drawn. 
Of  course  we  do  not  mean  that  revelation  is  unrea- 
sonable ;  the  very  reverse  is  true.  Nothing  is  more 
reasonable  than  that  God  himself  should  instruct 
ignorant  and  sinful  man ;  and  it  is  the  unreasona- 
bleness of  pride  and  sin  which  makes  man  refuse  to 
hear.  We  ought  to  judge  that  so  great  a  thing  as 
the  restoration  of  sinners  to  the  favour  of  a  holy  God, 
would  surpass  the  wisdom  of  man,  and  could  only  be 
learned  through  Divine  teachings.  It  is  important 
for  us  to  know  that  the  spirit  which  actuated  the  first 
errorist  is  yet  alive  upon  earth,  and  even  dwells  in 
the  hearts  of  many  who  wish  not  to  compare  them- 
selves with  the  first  murderer.  Cain  had  not  indeed 
gone  so  far  as  to  refuse  all  worship  to  God ;  but  to 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  229 

worship  by  halves  is  a  step  in  the  direction  of  not 
worshipping  at  all.  But  how  many  men  there  are, 
who  ought  to  be  better  instructed,  who  think  that 
all  that  God  requires  of  them  is  the  honest,  and 
upright,  and  industrious  discharge  of  their  duties  in 
society,  some  respect  for  his  name,  and  some  recog- 
nition of  their  dependence  upon  him  ?  They  see 
no  necessity  for  that  kind  of  religion  that  weeps  for 
sin  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  of  Christ ;  that  sits  in 
penitence  around  the  sacramental  board ;  and  that 
feels  a  deep  anxiety  for  the  salvation  of  other  men. 
We  say  nothing  now  of  the  history  of  Cain  after 
this  first  offering ;  but  so  far  as  this  first-born  of 
Eve  is  here  brought  before  us,  is  not  his  religion 
just  such  a  religion  as  this  ?  He  was  an  honest, 
industrious  labourer  in  the  fields ;  he  drew  near  to 
God  with  at  least  some  measure  of  respect ;  he  knew 
that  his  daily  bread  was  the  gift  of  a  bountiful 
Providence. 

We  are  expressly  taught  in  the  New  Testament 
that  no  man  can  find  God's  favour  by  any  works 
of  righteousness  done  by  himself,  at  any  time,  or 
for  any  purpose.  This  is  not  only  because  our  best 
works  are  imperfect  and  defiled ;  but  because  we 
are  sinners  and  must  be  reconciled  to  God  by  the 
blood  of  atonement.  There  are  only  two  ways  pos- 
sible by  which  God's  creatures  can  please  him  :  one 
is  by  a  perfect  righteousness  of  their  own,  which 
sinners  cannot  possibly  show  before  his  holy  sight ; 

and  the  other  is  by  the  atonement  of  Christ.     Both 
20 


230  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

these  metliocls  are  here  exhibited  in  these  two  sons 
of  Adam.  Abel  is  accepted  because  he  believed 
God,  and  offered  blood  before  him  to  signify  the 
death  of  the  coming  Redeemer ;  and  Cain  was  re- 
jected because  he  brought  no  such  offering  as  this. 
And  every  man  will  be  rejected  now,  who  has  folly 
and  daring  enough  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
Cain.  Let  any  man  think  that  his  own  reason  is 
enough  to  guide  him,  while  he  rejects  God's  express 
teachings  in  the  Bible ;  let  any  man  suppose  that 
his  own  works  are  enough  to  secure  God's  favour, 
and  that  if  one  but  discharges  his  usual  duties  in 
society,  he  has  no  special  need  for  dependence  upon 
the  blood  of  Christ ;  let  any  man  judge  that  if  he 
attends  upon  the  house  of  God,  is  respectful  towards 
religion,  and  grateful  for  the  mercies  of  Providence, 
he  need  not  fear.  Yet  such  men  are  not  believers  in 
the  footsteps  of  Abel ;  and  they  may  well  hear  the 
solemn  warning  of  the  Apostle  Jude,  "Wo  unto 
them,  for  they  have  gone  in  the  way  of  Cain !" 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  231 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

THE   REJECTION    OF    CAIN. 

We  are  not  told  by  what  means  Cain  and  Abel 
knew  immediately  the  results  of  their  worship. 
Perhaps  there  was  an  appointed  spot  where  God 
was  pleased  specially  to  dwell ;  and  there  were  well 
known  means  by  which  his  favour  was  indicated. 
Long  afterwards  upon  several  occasions,  fire  de- 
scended from  God  to  consume  the  sacrifices  made 
to  him ;  and  thus  he  may  have  answered  the  altar 
of  Abel. 

Cain  knew  that  he  was  rejected;  and  it  filled 
him  with  rage.  This  itself  is  a  proof  that  he  did 
not  approach  God  with  an  humble  and  penitent 
mind,  as  became  a  sinner.  It  is  not  needful  that 
we  should  even  attempt  to  discover  the  thoughts  of 
Cain  towards  God.  If  even  we  could  analyze  the 
feelings  of  the  first  unbeliever ;  if  we  could  know 
what  he  said  and  why  he  rebelled,  it  would  be  un- 
profitable knowledge.  The  humble  heart  knows 
enough  of  the  workings  of  sin  within  itself  to  cause 
it  to  mourn  before  God ;  and  the  proud  heart  is  too 


232  ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES. 

fruitful  in  evil  to  need  any  lessons  such  as  Cain 
could  teach.  But  we  know  well  that  renewed  pride 
and  rage  against  God,  was  never  the  fruit  of  right 
feelings  in  any  man.  True  penitence  would  have 
cast  Cain  down  before  God  with  grief  at  the  sign 
of  rejection ;  and  if  he  had  felt  as  he  should,  he 
could  have  entertained  no  hard  feelings  towards 
Abel.  For  he  surely  was  not  the  cause  of  his  bro- 
ther's rejection. 

In  striking  and  affecting  contrast  with  the  anger 
of  Cain  is  the  long  suffering  mercy  of  God.  We  may 
see  here  the  plain  difference  between  the  Divine  favour 
and  the  Divine  forbearance.  God  did  not  accept  the 
offering  of  Cain,  nor  smile  upon  him  as  a  worship- 
per ;  but  neither  did  he,  in  just  displeasure  for  his 
renewed  iniquity,  turn  utterly  away  from  the  unbe- 
liever. As  it  is  in  our  times  according  to  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ's  Apostles,  that  God's  goodness,  and 
forbearance,  and  long-suffering,  are  designed  and 
adapted  to  lead  men  to  repentance  and  salvation, 
(Rom.  ii.  4 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  15,)  so  w^as  it  in  the  days 
of  God's  earliest  mercy.  God  expostulated  with 
him ;  he  pointed  out  to  him  the  unreasonableness 
of  his  anger ;  and  he  laid  the  blame  of  the  rejection 
at  the  sinner's  own  door.  Perhaps  the  direction 
for  Cain's  proper  acceptance  refers  not  so  much  to 
his  natural  duty  of  obedience  to  the  moral  law,  as  to 
his  duty  to  comply  with  the  divinely  appointed 
methods  of  worship.    "  If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  233 

not  be  accepted  ?  and  if  thou  doest  not  well,  sin  lieth 
at  the  door." 

If  even  we  suppose  the  words  refer  to  any  duties 
of  the  creature,  God  is  justified  in  his  dealings  with 
the  sinner.  His  displeasure  is  of  justice,  and  arises 
from  man's  sin ;  and  we  are  specially  sinful,  if  we 
neither  satisfy  his  justice  nor  seek  his  mercy.  He 
that  doeth  w^ell  shall  be  accepted ;  and  every  sinner 
may  find  the  means  of  approaching  for  acceptance. 
We  understand  the  word  sm  to  stand  here  for  a 
sin-offering.  "  If  thou  doest  not  well — if  thou  art 
a  sinner — there  is  a  sin-offering  by  the  very  door ; 
bring  it  to  my  altar."  Cain  was  hindered  by 
his  own  wilful  refusal  to  obey  the  plain  instruc- 
tions God  had  given.  He  was  willing  to  do  some- 
thing in  a  religious  way ;  but  to  humble  himself  to 
God's  demands,  to  confess  his  sins,  to  rely  for  for- 
giveness upon  the  shedding  of  blood,  he  stoutly 
refused. 

Besides  expostulating  with  Cain  for  his  un- 
reasonable rejection  of  the  atonement,  the  Lord 
added  a  mild  and  forbearing  reproof  of  his  tem- 
per towards  his  brother.  He  concedes  the  elder 
brother's  privileges ;  but  reminds  him  that  Abel's 
acceptance  was  not  the  cause  of  his  rejection ;  and 
thus  wonderfully  does  God  deal  with  men.  By  the 
teachings  of  his  word,  by  the  admonitions  of  their 
own  consciences,  and  by  the  strivings  of  his  Holy 
Spirit,  he  reminds  them  that  they  are  the   authors 

of  their  own  destruction ;    he  forbears  with  them, 

20* 


234  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

thougli  they  are  wayward  and  unreasonable,  he 
still  points  out  to  them  his  methods  of  mercy,  and 
waits  to  be  gracious  even  when  they  perversely 
quarrel  with  him,  and  with  humble  worshippers 
more  acceptable  than  themselves.  Yet  how  mad  is 
sinful  man  !  Despite  the  offered  mercy  of  God,  he 
will  go  on  to  greater  and  more  desperate  sin.  We 
are  not  indeed  to  suppose  that  Cain  foresaw  the 
end  of  his  course,  or  thought  that  the  bad  passions 
he  now  cherished  would  ere  long  hurry  him  into  a 
crime  which,  as  yet  upon  the  earth,  was  without  a 
name.  The  methods  of  sin  were  then,  as  now,  de- 
ceitful. But  it  was  in  spite  of  solemn  and  tender 
warnings  that  Cain  passed  on  to  greater  sin. 

These  are  important  lessons  to  learn  from  the 
history  of  Cain,  before  we  pass  on  to  the  lamentable 
scenes  of  his  later  life  : 

1.  That  they  who  worship  God  must  come  in 
fftith  ;  that  is,  not  only  acknowledging  "  that  he  is, 
and  that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  those  that  diligently 
seek  him,"  but  recognizing  that  the  diligent  seek- 
ing of  God  requires  us  to  lay  aside  our  pride,  and 
to  come  as  he  directs  us.  We  are  to  search  after 
God.  The  plain  way  to  our  darkened  reason,  may 
not  be,  is  not  likely  to  be,  the  right  way.  Since 
the  world  began,  no  sinner  ever  found  God's  favour 
except  through  propitiatory  services,  significant  of 
the  shedding  of  Christ's  precious  blood.  And  in 
these  later  times,   in   vain   does   any  man  expect 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  235 

mercj,  who  neglects  the  great  salvation.  Men  may 
differ  very  much  from  the  temper  and  conduct  of 
Cain  ;  they  may  abhor  the  great  crime  that  has 
stamped .  his  name  with  infamy  ;  but  if  they  so  far 
agree  with  Cain  as  to  neglect  atoning  blood  as  he 
did,  God  will  as  certainly  reject  them  as  he  rejected 
Adam's  first-born  son. 

2.  They  whom  God  reproves  by  his  word,  his 
ministry,  his  providence,  or  his  Spirit  for  their 
wrong  methods  of  worship,  have  nothing  to  gain 
from  the  indulgence  of  murmuring  or  rebellious 
thoughts.  God  often  refuses  to  hear  our  prayers. 
We  cry,  but  we  get  no  answer.  He  has  always 
wise  reasons  for  refusal,  and  even  for  delay.  Let 
us  search  and  try  our  ways.  Let  us  watch  against 
anger,  pride,  and  despair.  ^'  If  thou  doest  well, 
thou  shalt  be  accepted;"  and  in  any  case  let  us 
draw  near,  pleading  the  precious  name  of  our  sin- 
offering. 

3.  Such  religious  convictions  as  do  not  bring  the 
soul  near  to  God,  usually  tend  to  harden  the  heart. 
Worse  than  the  first,  is  the  last  state  of  a  man 
whose  thoughts  ponder  his  duty  to  God,  but  who 
does  not  truly  submit  to  God's  methods  of  right- 
eousness. The  time  when  a  man  draws  near  to 
God,  especially  if  he  has  some  sense  of  his  need  of 
forgiveness,  is  a  critical  time  indeed.  But  God 
is  justified,  for  the  pride,  and  impenitence,  and 
rebellion   of  ungodly  men,  who   rebel  against  his 


206  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

mercy,    and    forbearance,    and    "willingness   to   be 
gracious. 

4.  Nothing  is  more  dreadful  than  quarrelling 
■VNith  God.  The  wrong  is  always  with  us.  it  leads 
on  to  greater  evil,  and  the  end  is  death. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  237 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE    SACRIFICE    OF   ABEL. 

Besides  the  remarkable  facts  already  noted  con- 
cerning sacrifices :  that  their  origin  is  nowhere  ex- 
pressly recorded ;  that  they  are  so  widely  spread 
among  the  children  of  men ;  and  that  they  explain 
themselves  as  significant  of  propitiation  for  sin ;  we 
may  notice  other  things  that  possess  interesting 
significance.  The  animals  offered  in  sacrifice  have 
always  been  peaceful  animals.  It  was  never  the 
lion,  the  tiger,  or  the  bear  ;  usually  the  gentle  lamb, 
or  the  meek  heifer.  It  was  also  the  most  useful 
animals ;  and  to  increase  the  value  of  offerings 
which  at  best  seemed  too  small,  a  large  number  of 
victims  were  slain.  Usually  too  the  distinction  was 
made  between  clean  and  unclean  animals.  In  all  this 
seemed  significant  the  truth  that  peace  and  holi- 
ness must  be  sought  by  man  of  his  offended  God  at 
any  price ;  and  that  his  gentlest,  and  purest,  and 
best  offerings  could  but  faintly  foreshadow  the  ap- 
pointed Lamb  of  the  latter  days. 


238  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

If  our  minds  could  be  carried  back  to  the  earliest 
days  of  human  worship  ;  if  we  could  see  our  first 
father  Adam  by  the  direct  command  of  God  offer 
upon  his  rude  altar  the  first  sacrificial  victim ;  if 
we  could  enter  into  the  feelings  of  that  trembling 
pair  as  they  stood  pleading  before  their  God,  we 
might  learn  a  solemn  lesson,  not  unsuitable  to  us, 
even  in  these  days  of  clearer  light.  Here  have  we 
the  same  mingling  of  the  awful  and  the  merciful, 
that  may  usually  be  found  in  the  dispensations  of 
God  towards  man.  Adam  must  be  the  first  Priest. 
Deeply  affected  by  the  unexpected  and  undeserved 
mercy  of  the  Lord,  he  selected  the  purest  and  mild- 
est of  those  mute  companions  which  next  to  man 
were  the  chief  ornaments  of  Paradise.  Then  he 
must  build  an  altar ;  must  lead  the  victim  before  it ; 
must  lay  his  hands  solemnly  upon  its  head,  and 
there  confess  in  the  presence  of  his  Maker  his  wil- 
ful, guilty  apostasy.  This  done,  the  life  of  the 
victim  must  be  taken.  Awful  sight !  Blood  had 
never  before  stained  the  earth,  our  first  parents 
had  never  seen  the  crimson  tide.  Now  they  see 
the  innocent  lamb,  fainting,  gasping,  convulsed,  and 
dying.  They  must  see  death  in  this  form,  and 
know  that  their  sin  had  introduced  it  in  worse  forms 
than  this. 

But  it  was  not  all  terror  that  gathered  around 
the  bleeding  victim  and  the  smoking  altar.  The 
main  design  was  to  signify  and  seal  the  most  amaz- 
ing mercy.     It  was  the  first  institution  of  a  sacra- 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  239 

ment  in  the  church  of  God  ;  and  it  proclaimed, 
amid  the  early  ruins  of  the  fall,  the  same  gospel  of 
salvation  in  which  we  are  called  to  trust.  We  have 
already  pointed  out  the  difference  between  the  offer- 
ings of  Adam's  eldest  sons ;  we  have  seen  the  true 
cause  of  Cain's  rejection.  It  may  now  be  proper 
for  us  to  consider  the  principles  involved  in  the 
sacrifice  of  Abel.  For  this  is  the  first  offering  that 
is  expressly  mentioned. 

We  may  suppose  that  the  ceremonies  of  sacri- 
fice have  been  substantially  the  same  from  the  be- 
ginning; and  that  the  minute  directions  of  the 
Book  of  Leviticus  simply  record  the  practices  al- 
ready familiar.  When  Abel  brought  of  the  first 
and  fattest  of  his  flock  as  an  offering  to  God,  he 
confessed  his  sin,  his  helplessness,  his  righteous  ex- 
posure to  the  wrath  of  God.  He  laid  his  hands 
upon  the  victim's  head ;  he  confessed  his  sin.  Such 
an  offering  was  unnecessary  except  for  a  sinner. 
The  righteous  have  no  need  of  atonement;  the 
self-righteous  feel  no  need  of  it.  Cain,  we  have 
seen,  w^as  willing  to  acknowledge  that  there  was 
a  God ;  that  God  was  his  maker,  his  providential 
benefactor ;  that  the  fruits  of  the  earth  were  God's 
gifts ;  and  that  he  was  dependent  upon  God  as  his 
sovereign.  But  Cain  came  not  as  a  sinner  with  an 
offering  that  sought  the  Divine  mercy.  He  claimed 
yet  to  stand  as  did  Adam  in  Paradise.  Abel's 
offering  is  significant  of  Abel's  views  and  feelings. 
He  felt  himself  a  sinner  and  came  as  such.     And 


240  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 

truth  and  honour  were  with  Abel  rather  than  Cain. 
Let  not  the  proud  and  wicked  heart  of  man  admire 
the  bold  independence  of  Cain  ;  or  take  Abel's  hu- 
mility and  penitence  as  tokens  of  degradation. 
The  reverse  is  a  true  judgment.  Falsehood  is  al- 
ways mean,  however  proud ;  and  truth  is  always 
noble,  however  humble.  To  be  a  sinner  is  a  shame- 
ful thing ;  to  be  a  proud,  and  stubborn,  and  har- 
dened sinner  is  far  more  shameful.  The  pride  of 
Cain  was  wicked  in  itself,  and  unbecoming  his  place ; 
while  his  brother,  if  meek,  was  also  truthful.  Cain 
was  only  the  more  a  sinner,  because  he  refused  to 
confess  that  he  was  so.  Penitence  is  the  true 
nobleness  of  a  man,  who  knows  that  he  is  in  the 
wrong,  and  he  commits  a  greater  wrong,  who 
shamelessly  refuses  to  acknowledge  the  truth. 
"Wo  unto  them  that  call  evil  good  and  good  evil!" 
We  break  down  the  barriers  between  right  and 
wrono',  either  when  we  admire  independent  wicked- 
ness, or  when  we  despise  the  honest,  candid,  and 
truthful  confession  of  wrong.  Cain's  refusal  to 
own  his  guilt  made  that  guilt  only  the  greater,  and 
more  incontestably  proved  him  a  wicked  man  ;  while 
Abel's  offering  was  the  honourable  acknowledgment 
of  the  truth  that  he  was  a  sinner.  It  is  more  hon- 
ourable to  correct  a  fault  than  to  persist  in  repeat- 
ing it ;  more  honourable  to  speak  the  truth,  how- 
ever humbling,  than  to  assume  false  appearances, 
however  bold ;  and  thus  Abel  was  more  honourable 
than  Cain.    And  a  sinful  man  acts  never  more  truly 


ADAM    AND    fllS   TIMES.  241 

according  to  the  dictates  of  true  honour,  than  when 
he  bows  before  God  with  the  candid  and  penitent 
confession  of  his  sins. 

But  if  the  sacrifice  of  Abel  was  a  token  of  his 
penitence,  it  was  just  as  truly  a  token  of  his  faith. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  are  told,  "  By 
FAITH  Abel  offered  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than 
Cain."  We  do  not  understand  simply  that  he  be- 
lieved that  some  benefit  would  follow  the  offering. 
This  is  true ;  but  to  some  extent  it  was  true  of  Cain. 
Cain  expected  some  advantage  to  result  from  his 
offering ;  otherwise  he  would  not  have  brought  it  at 
all.  Expectation  of  good,  even  confidence  that  we 
shall  receive  it,  is  not  the  scriptural  idea  of  faith. 
Eaith  is  the  belief  of  the  Divine  word,  and  reliance 
upon  the  Divine  promise.  Cain  seems  to  have 
trusted  not  the  Divine  teachings,  but  his  own  rea- 
son. And  because  we  cannot  see  how  reason  would 
suggest  the  offering  of  Abel,  and  especially  because 
we  are  told  that  he  came  in  faith,  we  understand 
that  he  acted  under  Divine  instruction.  If  his 
was  a  sinner's  offering,  it  was  no  less  the  offering 
of  a  believer. 

Something  of  the  great  method  of  redemption 
was  set  forth  by  it.  No  thoughtful  and  serious  mind 
could  suppose  that  such  an  offering  could  atone 
for  sin.  A  deeply  convicted  conscience  would  say 
with  Paul,  "  It  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulla 
and  goats  could  take  away  sin."  Doubtless  even 
in  Abel's  own  eyes,  his  offering  was  typical.  It 
21 


242  ADAM  AND   HIS  TIMES. 

began  a  long  line  of  dark  but  significant  prophecies, 
where,  under  the  Spirit's  teachings,  the  eye  learned 
much,  and  the  heart  far  more.  It  was  a  pledge, 
divinely  appointed,  that  the  woman's  seed  should 
come ;  it  was  a  pre-intimation  of  His  sufferings,  when 
the  Lamb  of  God  should  take  away  sin. 

How  clear  or  how  obscure  were  Abel's  views,  we 
cannot  say.  He  saw  not  as  we  do.  He  was  one 
of  the  righteous  men,  who  desired  to  see  the  days 
we  see,  and  saw  them  not.  Perhaps  the  apostle 
means  this  when  he  says  that  we  are  come  "to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  things  than 
that  of  Abel."  Some  indeed  suppose  that  he  refers 
to  Abel's  own  blood,  which,  shed  upon  the  ground, 
as  with  the  voice  of  justice,  demanded  vengeance 
upon  his  murderer ;  and  this  he  contrasts  with  the 
blood  of  Christ,  which,  as  with  the  merciful  voice 
of  the  dying  sufferer,  pleads  for  forgiveness  upon 
them  that  slew  him.  But  the  apostle  may  be  un- 
derstood to  speak  of  the  blood  of  Abel's  sacrifice. 
This  typified  and  promised  pardon,  but  did  not  set 
this  forth  as  does  the  blood  of  Christ  that  speaketh 
better  things. 

The  difference  between  the  two  brothers  was  just 
that  of  piety  and  impiety,  faith  and  unbelief  in  the 
teachings  of  Divine  truth.  It  seems  shocking  to  us 
that  the  first-born  of  the  human  family  should  so 
rebel  against  God,  and  should  refuse  the  offers  of 
Divine  mercy  revealed  for  his  salvation.  And  yet  why 
should  so  many  in  later  times,  and  with  the  clear 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  243 

teachings  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  repeat  the  sin  of 
Cain  !  The  same  divisions  are  found  in  other  fami- 
lies besides  that  of  our  first  parents ;  and  in  every 
case  they  involve  the  same  eternal  interest,  the 
same  neglect  of  Divine  mercies.  Indeed  every  soul 
of  those  who  hear  the  gospel,  is  a  follower  of  the 
guilt  of  Cain,  or  of  the  penitence  of  Abel. 


244  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE   DEATH    OF   ABEL. 

The  difference  between  Cain  and  Abel  was  chiefly 
religious.  We  may  wonder  that  two  brothers  could 
not  live  peaceably  together,  though  they  were  thus 
divided ;  but  we  may  remember  that  there  is  no  more 
important  thing  than  religious  faith ;  nor  have  any 
differences  between  men  ever  produced  more  serious 
results.  The  sacred  writings  assure  us  that  the 
hostility  of  man's  natural  mind  against  piety  can- 
not possibly  be  reconciled.  "  The  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law 
of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  The  Apostle  John  ex- 
pressly declares  that  Cain  hated  Abel,  "  because  his 
own  works  were  evil  and  his  brother's  righteous." 
They  had  been  trained  up  in  the  same  family ;  and 
this  under  circumstances  peculiarly  favourable. 
Christian  parents  now  find  it  a  great  hindrance  to 
their  family  rule,  that  many  families  around  them 
are  far  less  careful  of  their  children  ;  and  that  thus 
those  under  their  care  are   exposed  to  pernicious 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  245 

examples.  Nothing  of  this  kind  influenced  the 
family  of  Adam ;  our  first  father  doubtless  taught 
his  children  alike  the  ways  of  God ;  and  Cain  and 
Abel  from  such  a  household  should  have  lived  to- 
gether in  unity. 

But  the  differences  between  them  gradually  in- 
creased ;  and  it  was  perhaps  at  the  end  of  many 
years  that  the  contrast  in  character  became  so  wide. 
We  must  not  allow  the  brevity  of  the  narrative  to 
crowd  out  of  view  the  real  progress  of  time.  It  is 
likely  that  Abel  lived  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
or  one  hundred  and  thirty  years.  The  two  bro- 
thers were  not  children  in  age,  knowledge,  or  expe- 
rience. From  their  boyhood  they  had  started  in 
different  paths;  these  did  not  apparently  lead  in 
opposite  ways,  but  they  insensibly  diverged ;  and 
at  the  end  of  a  century  of  progress  they  were  far 
apart.  Let  two  boys  start  together  now  from  the 
same  family,  or  the  same  Sabbath-school.  They 
may  seem  to  differ  so  little,  that  parents  and  friends 
hope  well  for  both.  But  when  both  are  forty 
years  old,  especially  if  both  live  to  see  sixty  or 
eighty  years,  each  walking  in  the  same  path  they 
have  early  chosen,  they  will  be  far  apart  indeed. 
If  they  have  loved  different  things,  and  held  differ- 
ent opinions  so  long,  there  is  very  little  likelihood 
that  they  will  feel  or  think  alike. 

When  a  man  has  rebelled  against  God  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  we  need  not  wonder  to  hear 
that  he  hates  those  whom  God  loves ;  nor  be  sur- 

21* 


246  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

prised  at  any  act  of  wickedness  he  may  do.  We 
are  told  that  Cain  rose  up  against  his  brother  and 
slew  him.  The  expression,  he  talked  with  him, 
seems  to  imply  a  treacherous  concealment  of  his 
purpose.  Yet  it  may  be  that  the  act  was  not  pre- 
meditated ;  but  the  result  of  sudden  passion  as  they 
talked  together.  This  would  make  the  crime  less 
flagrant ;  but  it  was  a  grievous  crime  in  the  mildest 
view  we  can  take  of  it.  It  was  the  act  of  one  in 
mature  years;  the  stroke  of  an  elder  brother  whose 
place  it  was  rather  to  protect  the  younger ;  the 
stroke  of  a  wicked  man  against  a  righteous  man ; 
and  here,  indeed,  as  Matthew  Henry  remarks, 
Cain  struck  a  blow  at  God  himself,  for  it  was  the 
Divine  approbation  of  Abel  that  led  to  this  severer 
hatred. 

"We  have  no  detailed  account  of  this  dreadful 
scene.  It  seems  to  mark  it  as  deliberate,  that  the 
fratricide  denied  all  knowledge  of  his  brother,  when 
inquiry  was  made  for  him.  Perhaps  his  guilt 
prompted  him  to  conceal  the  body ;  but  the  deed 
could  not  be  hid.  Reserving  to  another  chapter 
our  thoughts  upon  the  murderer  and  the  dealings 
of  Providence  with  him,  there  are  two  other  direc- 
tions towards  which  our  thoughts  may  turn,  as  we 
reflect  upon  the  death  of  Abel. 

What  a  stroke  of  grief  was  the  death  of  Abel  to 
his  parents  !  Doubtless  Adam  and  Eve  had  already 
been  deeply  grieved  with  the  growing  waywardness 
and  wickedness  of  their  eldest  born :  and  the  re- 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  247 

membrance  of  their  own  apostasy  was  more  bitter 
and  humiliating  as  they  saw  the  proofs  of  his  de- 
pravity. But  that  their  anxious  watchings  for  their 
children  should  ever  bring  them  to  a  day  like  this, 
was  grief  and  wo,  indeed.  The  day  when  death  first 
enters  the  household  is  a  serious  one  for  any  family. 
And  when  death  comes  by  the  stroke  of  violence, 
and  the  form  of  one  we  have  loved  is  marred  by  the 
murderer's  hand,  it  is  inexpressibly  more  afflicting 
than  the  fall  of  a  brother  by  the  touch  of  Providence. 
But  what  horror  aggravates  the  deed  when  the 
slayer  and  his  victim  have  been  borne  and  nursed 
by  the  same  mother !  And  here  was  the  first  scene 
of  the  kind;  the  first  human  death  was  here,  and 
in  this  bruised  and  stiffened  form  Adam  saw  its 
terrible  reign  begin. 

We  have  often  been  in  the  house  of  sorrow.  We 
have  seen  the  aged  parent  bend  over  the  cold  re- 
mains of  a  son  cut  down  in  the  prime  of  manhood ; 
and  we  have  dropped  the  tear  of  sympathy  for  those 
whose  stay  in  declining  years  has  been  taken  away. 
But  here  was  affliction  in  all  its  novelty;  they  had 
no  familiarity  with  death  in  any  form  ;  perhaps  no 
conception  of  it  in  a  form  like  this.  And  yet  it 
was  not  grief  for  the  dead  that  filled  Adam's  family 
with  sorrow  in  that  mournful  day.  This  great 
grief  was  swallowed  up  and  forgotten  in  a  greater 
wo.  As  for  Abel  there  was  hope  in  his  death. 
The  fire  of  that  accepted  altar  threw  its  light  even 
across  the  dark  valley  now  first  traversed  by  man; 


248  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

and  God's  acceptance  on  earth  was  the  earnest  of 
God's  acceptance  from  earth.  Abel  was  not  Adam's 
lost  son.  In  the  expressive  words  we  sometimes 
hear,  '''living  trouble  IS  trouble." 

What  a  flood  of  wretchedness  overwhelms  these 
parents  at  this  first  death  scene?  Had  death  come 
in  its  mildest  form,  his  stroke  would  have  fallen 
heavily  upon  them,  who  had  first  heard  his  name  in 
the  innocence  of  Eden,  and  had  themselves  given 
him  power  in  the  earth  through  their  folly.  But 
it  was  not  that  silent  beloved  one  that  gave  them 
grief.  It  was  not  the  present,  dead  Abel ;  it  was 
the  absent,  conscience-stricken  Cain,  for  whom  their 
parents  grieved.  We  cannot  think  that  Cain  would 
venture  to  stand  by,  when  they  first  looked  upon 
the  body  of  Abel.  And  even  the  weeping  parents 
must  put  their  dead  away  out  of  sight.  They  could  not 
curse  his  destroyer ;  for  he  too  was  their  son.  For 
Abel  they  could  have  dried  their  tears ;  for  Cain 
they  must  flow.  Could  they  have  utterly  dis- 
owned him,  his  banishment  might  be  some  relief. 
But  the  wretched  and  guilty  wanderer  was  still 
their  first-born  ;  and  they  could  not  curse  him, 
while  also  they  could  not  bless.  To  them  might 
well  be  spoken  the  words  of  Jeremiah,  "■  Weep  ye 
not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan  him  ;  but  weep 
sore  for  him  that  goeth  away."  Jer.  xxii.  10.  No 
parental  grief  exceeds  their  wretchedness  who  are 
called  to  lament  for  the  sin  of  a  beloved  child. 
But   there   is    another    direction    in   which   our 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  249 

tliouglits  may  tuni.  Let  us  think  neither  of  Cain, 
nor  of  Adam,  but  of  Abel.  That  was  doubtless  a 
moment  of  horror  when  he  caught  the  fierce  gleam  of 
his  angry  brother's  eye  and  saw  the  threatened  blow. 
Death  itself  was  a  new  and  terrible  thing ;  but  for 
a  righteous  man  to  die  by  a  brother's  hand,  was 
horror  indeed.  Unexpected  death,  death  coming 
suddenly  in  the  very  midst  of  life,  is  awful  enough ; 
but  no  death  can  well  be  more  solemn  than  the  first 
death.  "  Death  was  denounced  to  man  as  a  curse ; 
yet  behold  it  is  first  inflicted  on  the  innocent."* 
Sin  and  death  seem  indeed  to  triumph  over  fallen 
man. 

But  the  horror  of  Abel's  death  is  all  to  sense ;  our 
faith  may  see  far  different  things.  Could  we  lift 
aside  the  veil  that  divides  time  from  eternity,  how 
differently  would  we  feel !  As  to  outward  circum- 
stances, Abel  did  not  depart  as  a  believer  might  de- 
sire to.  If  he  saw  the  descending  stroke,  his  mind 
could  scarcely  turn  towards  the  calm  reflections  and 
the  humble  prayers  with  which  the  pious  soul  would 
wish  to  meet  the  last  enemy.  Composure,  medita- 
tion, the  actual  exercise  of  faith,  religious  triumph 
seem  all  improbable,  at  an  hour  like  that.  It  is 
not  needful  that  the  death  scene  should  be  rapturous 
or  calm  or  even  peaceful.  Anguish  and  horror  may 
be  the  last  thought.  Nor  do  we  read  that  the  first 
martyr  of  the  Old  Testament  Avas  like  the  first 
martyr  of  the  New.  We  hear  no  prayers  like  those 
*  Bishop  Hull. 


250  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMESr 

of  Stephen,  "  Lord,  receive  my  spirit :  lay  not  this 
sin  to  their  charge."  AYe  read  of  no  opening 
heavens,  and  the  Son  of  man  waiting  to  receive  the 
first  trophy  of  recovering  grace. 

Yet  Abel  died  in  faith ;  and  there  was  an  open 
door  in  heaven  to  receive  his  ascending  spirit. 
Death  only  seemed  to  triumph  over  the  fallen  be- 
liever. The  first  man  to  die;  the  first  to  live 
for  ever ;  the  first  mortal  for  whom  the  doors  of  the 
celestial  paradise  are  opened;  the  first  sinner  to 
sing  the  song  of  redeeming  love ;  the  first  born  of 
glory;  surely  if  these  things  are  true  of  Abel,  he 
triumphed  over  death.  Happy  believer,  the  first 
of  the  long  succession  of  redeemed  ones  from  earth ! 

If  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  any  repenting  sin- 
ner, is  there  not  over  every  glorified  believer  ?  The 
invisible  scenes  at  every  believer's  departure  are  in 
wide  contrast  with  what  we  see.  We  mourn  and  grieve 
our  loss ;  angels  welcome  a  new  friend  and  brother 
to  their  abode  of  bliss.  But  there  was  special  joy 
in  the  courts  of  light,  as  the  death  of  Abel  began  a 
new  era  in  the  chronicles  of  heaven.  What  happy 
anthems  swelled  in  the  first  welcome  of  a  pardoned 
sinner  to  glory !  Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  gates, 
even  lift  them  up,  ye  everlasting  doors,  and  let 
enter  the  first  fruits  of  God's  redeeming  mercy! 
Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  gates,  to  stand  open  day 
and  night  continually,  until  a  great  multitude  whom 
no  man  can  number  have  followed  the  footsteps  of 
believing  Abel.     Let  Abel  receive  the  first  crown 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  251 

of  righteousness ;  one  like  it  shall  be  the  reward  of 
every  soul  who  loves  and  longs  for  the  Redeemer's 
glorj. 

What  a  sad  and  joyful  day  was  that  when  Abel 
died  !  It  was  both  the  triumph  and  the  defeat  of 
death.  Sin  and  death  united  their  forces  to  com- 
pass his  murder ;  but  they  were  able  to  hold  under 
their  power  only  the  corruptible  body.  Abel  him- 
self rose  from  the  red-stained  earth  to  know  their 
power  no  more  for  ever.  And  Satan  saw  the  first 
evidence  of  his  defeat,  as  the  dying  believer  triumphed 
over  death  and  him  that  has  the  power  of  death. 


252  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE    CRIMINAL    EXPOSED. 

We  see  in  Cain  the  same  disposition  to  conceal 
his  guilt  that  Adam  had  before  shown.  This  indeed 
is  characteristic  of  guilt ;  and  proves  the  working  of 
conscience.  It  is  true  that  if  the  conscience  of  a 
guilty  man  was  fully  obeyed,  it  would  influence  him 
to  confess  his  iniquity:  and  yet  the  shame  that  hides 
a  crime  as  truly  springs  from  a  sense  of  guilt.  Men 
do  not  hide  their  useful  and  innocent  actions. 
What  we  are  ashamed  of,  we  should  beware  of. 

As  with  Adam,  so  with  Cain,  God  spoke  to  awaken 
his  conscience.  He  asked  for  Abel,  his  brother. 
Had  there  been  any  penitent  thoughts  in  the  heart 
of  Cain  after  his  dreadful  deed,  this  form  of  inquiry 
was  adapted  to  call  them  forth.  But,  unhappily, 
Cain  was  not  penitent.  His  reply  therefore  was 
falsehood  and  insolence.  It  was  bad  enough  to  say, 
I  know  not.  Had  he  stopped  at  this,  we  might 
have  found  this  excuse  at  least  of  the  falsehood, 
that  he  feared  the  discovery  of  his  sin  and  the  re- 
sults it  might  bring  upon  him.  Even  then  it  was 
the  folly  of  guilt,  how  often  since  repeated !  to  think 


ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES.  253 

that  man's  denial  can  hide  tlie  truth  from  the  know- 
ledge of  God.  But  he  did  not  stop  with  the  untruth. 
He  cast  away  from  him  the  cords  with  which  the 
Almighty  has  bound  the  heart  of  every  man  to  his 
brother  and  his  fellow.  With  an  effrontery  and  in- 
solence, which  surely  seem  to  belong  to  a  hardened 
offender,  he  asks.  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?  Am 
I  bound  to  have  any  care  over  him?  Are  his  in- 
terests any  concern  of  mine  ?  May  he  not  go  where  he 
will,  do  as  he  pleases,  be  what  he  chooses,  and  suffer 
as  he  may ;  and  all  this  while  I  attend  to  my  own 
affairs,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  him  ? 

There  is  truly  a  sense  in  which  every  man  is  the 
keeper  of  himself;  there  are  responsibilities  which 
rest  upon  the  individual  soul,  and  which  cannot  and 
should  not  be  divided  with  any  other.  Each  man  is 
responsible  for  his  own  character,  feelings,  thoughts, 
words,  deeds,  and  omissions  as  he  cannot  be  for 
whatever  other  men  may  be,  or  do.  But  it  is  no 
interference  with  the  entireness  of  individual  re- 
sponsibility that  no  man  does  or  can  live  as  a 
separate  and  independent  being.  It  is  a  part  of  ■&»-  vviy 
individual  responsibility  rather,  that  what  we  do, 
and  what  we  refrain  from  doing,  must  be  governed 
as  truly  by  the  law  of  God,  as  what  we  are  and 
what  we  feel.  There  is  ^dividing  line  that  can  run  f^o 
between  us  and  our  neighbours,  separating  our  in- 
terests from  theirs,  and  defrauding  neither  when  a 
division  is  secured.  Only  in  the  indulgence  of  an 
impious  and  irreligious  spirit  can  any  man  fail  to 
22 


254  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

recognize  the  obligations  which  bind  him  to  every 
fellow  in  the  race  of  man. 

It  is  easy  to  see  in  the  inquiry  here  made  of  Cain 
that  that  great  second  principle  of  the  Divine  law, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  is  the 
recognized  foundation  of  human  duty  from  the  begin- 
ning. Because  Cain  was  bound  thus  to  love  his  brother, 
the  question  is  asked.  Because  he  would  throw 
oflf  the  restraints  of  law,  the  insolent  reply  is  uttered. 
And  whoever  now  excuses  himself  from  deeds  of 
charity  to  the  poor,  from  efforts  to  spread  the 
gospel  in  lands  of  darkness,  from  schemes  of  useful- 
ness on  every  hand,  upon  the  plea  that  he  has  no  in- 
terest in  these  things,  but  repeats  the  falsehood  of 
the  first  murderer,  and  affirms  that  he  is  not  his 
brother's  keeper.  It  is  in  no  wise  possible  to  mul- 
tiply the  murderous  deeds  of  Cain  more  abundantly 
than  by  filling  the  minds  of  men  with  this  sentiment 
of  Cain.  When  men  care  little  what  becomes  of 
their  neighbours,  it  is  an  easy  step  to  care  little 
what  they  do  to  them.  The  omission  indeed  of  duty 
may  be  both  as  flagrant  and  as  fatal  as  the  actual 
deed  of  wickedness.  And  no  man  can  rightly  take 
care  of  his  own  interests  and  his  own  soul  without 
the  assistance  to  this  end  that  is  afforded  by  his 
concern  for  the  interests  of  others.  It  is  for  in- 
dividual as  well  as  public  good,  that  men  should 
love  their  neighbours  as  themselves. 

Cain's  falsehood  was  vain.  The  Divine  word  so 
addresses  him  as  to  call  forth  the  true  temper  of 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  255 

his  mind;  but  he  soon  learns  that  his  sin  is  not 
hidden.  God  declared  that  he  heard  the  voice  of 
his  brother's  blood  crying  from  the  ground.  This, 
of  course,  is  a  figurative  expression ;  but  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly forcible  to  declare  that  sin  is  never  con- 
cealed from  the  Divine  Judge,  and  that  its  very 
commission  is  a  call  upon  him  to  execute  merited 
punishment.  This  is  true  of  every  sin,  the  most 
secret,  and  the  least  influential;  it  is  especially 
true  of  the  greater  sins  against  society  and  against 
God,  of  which  Abel's  murder  was  the  first  fearful 
example.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  no  man  can  ever 
commit  any  sin  without  the  liability  that  it  may  one 
day  rise  up  to  meet  him,  clothed  in  terrors  that 
shall  fill  his  soul  with  remorse  and  horror;  so  espe- 
cially, on  the  other  hand,  the  history  of  the  race  is 
full  of  the  remarkable  revelations  of  crimes,  which 
the  providence  of  God  or  the  conscience  of  the 
criminal,  perhaps  after  long  years,  has  brought 
forth  from  the  mysteries  of  concealment  and  denial. 
It  is  not  enough  that  no  eye  saw  the  deed  of 
darkness,  and  that  the  knowledge  of  it  seems  hidden 
alone  in  that  breast  that  is  too  deeply  interested 
ever  to  make  it  known.  You  have  doubtless  read 
the  strong  words  of  Daniel  Webster  upon  the  trial 
of  a  criminal,  where  he  urges  that  the  world  has  no 
corner  dark  enough  to  hide  the  guilty.  ^'True  it 
is,"  says  he,  "that  Providence  has  so  ordained  and 
doth  so  govern  things,  that  those  who  break  the 
great  law  of  heaven  by  shedding  man's  blood,  seldom 


256  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

succeed  in  avoiding  discovery.  Especially  in  a  case 
exciting  so  much  attention  as  this,  discovery  must 
come,  and  will  come,  sooner  or  later.  A  thousand 
eyes  turn  at  once  to  explore  every  man,  every  thing, 
every  circumstance  connected  with  the  time  and 
place;  a  thousand  ears  catch  every  whisper,  a 
thousand  excited  minds  intensely  dwell  on  the 
scene,  shedding  all  their  light  and  ready  to  kindle, 
at  the  slightest  circumstance,  into  a  blaze  of  dis- 
covery. 

"Mean  time,  the  guilty  soul  can  not  keep  its  own 
secret.  It  is  false  to  itself,  or  rather  it  feels  an 
irresistible  impulse  to  be  true  to  itself.  It  labours 
under  its  guilty  possession,  and  knows  not  what  to 
do  with  it.  The  human  heart  was  not  made  for  the 
residence  of  such  an  inhabitant  .  .  .  The  secret 
which  the  murderer  possesses,  soon  comes  to  possess 
him ;  and  like  the  evil  spirits  of  which  we  read,  it 
overcomes  him  and  leads  him  whithersoever  it  will 
.  .  .  He  thinks  the  whole  world  sees  it  in  his  face, 
reads  it  in  his  eyes,  and  almost  hears  its  workings 
in  the  very  silence  of  his  thoughts.  It  has  become 
his  master.  It  betrays  his  discretion,  it  breaks 
down  his  courage,  it  conquers  his  prudence.  When 
suspicions  from  without  begin  to  embarrass  him,  and 
the  net  of  circumstances  to  entangle  him,  the  fatal 
secret  struggles  with  still  greater  violence  to  burst 
forth." 

There  is  upon  this  subject  an  unjust  and  unwise 
prejudice  against  admitting  that  circumstantial  evi- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  257 

dence  can  prove  beyond  a  question  the  commission 
of  a  crime.  Yet  if  circumstantial  evidence  may  not 
be  received  to  convict  a  man  of  crime,  the  most 
flagrant  offences  must  pass  unpunished.  For  the 
more  deliberate  a  murder  is,  the  more  likely  it  is  to 
be  committed  when  no  witnesses  are  present.  When 
a  man  strikes  at  the  life  of  his  neighbour  in  sudden 
anger,  he  may  do  the  deed  in  open  day,  and  with 
no  regard  to  the  numerous  witnesses  that  may  sur- 
round him.  But  no  man  will  form  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  crime,  and  then  prefer  to  do  the  deed 
where  it  ean  certainly  be  proved  upon  him.  As 
men  are  prone  to  deny  their  guilt  when  it  is  charged 
upon  them,  so  they  take  every  possible  care  to  pre- 
vent any  proof  that  may  lead  to  their  conviction. 
"  He  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light ;"  and  no  human 
witnesses  see  the  crimes  that  most  deserve  to  be 
punished. 

Not  only  will  the  most  flagrant  crimes  remain 
unpunished,  if  we  always  require  direct  witnesses 
of  their  commission ;  but  the  real  proof  of  the  deed 
may  be  even  less  certain.  It  is  &  great  mistake  to 
judge  that  circumstantial  evidence  is  more  falla- 
cious than  direct  proof.  Since  perjury  is  possible, 
the  explicit  testimony  of  a  few  witnesses  may  really 
be  of  far  less  weight  than  a  well  established  train 
of  circumstances.  When  public  attention  is  fully 
aroused  by  some  shocking  crime,  when  everybody's 
ears  and  lips  are  open,  and  from  a  hundred  wit- 
nesses, who  do  not  know  each  other,  or  know  what 
22* 


258  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

eacli  other  says,  an  array  of  niinute  facts  is 
gathered,  each  of  small  account  in  itself,  and  yet 
all  together  forming  a  train  of  connected  circum- 
stances— like  the  types  of  a  printed  page,  each 
type  of  little  significance,  yet  this  combination 
of  them  all,  conveying  most  important  instruction 
— there  is  often  secured  a  conclusive  proof  scarcely 
inferior  to  the  sight  of  the  eyes.  In  a  well  es- 
tablished chain  of  such  evidences,  the  witnesses 
cannot  possibly  agree  to  make  any  false  impres- 
sion. They  are  too  numerous  and  of  too  diverse 
characters;  many  of  them  cannot  know  the  bear- 
ing upon  the  case  of  the  little  thing  they  have  to 
say;  it  is  impossible  to  make  a  long  array  of  false- 
hoods hang  harmoniously  together;  and  though  it 
is  possible  for  many  suspicious  circumstances  to 
array  themselves  around  an  innocent  man,  it  is 
also  true  that  clearly  defined  circumstantial  proof 
may  gather  a  network  of  evidence  around  a  crim- 
inal to  hem  him  in  on  every  side ;  and  we  may  de- 
cide upon  his  guilt  with  as  much  certainty  as  ever 
belongs  to  human-  judgments.  Nothing  is  more 
difficult  than  to  establish  a  theory  that  is  really 
untrue,  in  the  presence  of  competent  and  expe- 
rienced judges,  by  numerous  witnesses  testifying 
to  things  occurring  around  themselves  in  the  same 
place  and  time.  Truth  is  harmonious ;  falsehood  is 
necessarily  inconsistent;  the  more  numerous  the 
circumstances,  the   more   certainly  will   an    expe- 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  259 

rienced  mind  discover  the  discrepancies ;  but  in  con- 
sistent circumstances  alone  may  a  conclusion  be 
founded,  "far  more  satisfactory  than  direct  evidence 
can  produce."  * 

*Greenleaf  on  Evidence,  i.  19. 


260  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 

It  seems  fairly  implied  in  the  language  used  con- 
cerning Cain  that  the  natural  and  proper  punish- 
ment for  the  crime  of  murder  is  the  death  of  the 
criminal.  The  cry  of  the  blood  from  the  ground, 
and  the  apprehension  of  Cain  that  whosoever  found 
him  would  kill  him,  seem  to  teach  this,  before  we 
have  any  expressed  law  upon  the  subject.  Nor 
does  the  fact  that  Cain  was  not  put  to  death,  fur- 
nish any  argument  against  the  righteousness  of  the 
principle.  Rather,  the  manner  of  his  exemption  is 
a  proof  of  the  law.  For  evidently  Cain  felt  that  he 
deserved  to  die;  he  knew  that  others  felt  so  too; 
and  nothing  less  than  some  kind  of  a  mark  from 
God  himself  was  able  to  protect  him  from  the  strong 
sense  of  retributive  justice  in  the  minds  of  men  that 
he  ought  to  die.  Unless  we  deny  that  even  God 
can  grant  exemption,  we  should  admit  that  such  a 
mark  upon  the  murderer  to  keep  men  from  doing 
what  otherwise  they  would  do,  is  the  strongest 
proof  that  this  sentiment  was  originally  and  deeply 
implanted  in  the  human  mind. 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  261 

In  the  times  in  which  we  live  many  efforts  have 
been  made  to  show  that  capital  punishment  ought 
not  to  be  inflicted.  Among  the  errors  by  which 
this  opinion  is  urged  upon  the  attention  of  society 
these  are  prominent : 

1st.  It  is  urged  that  the  proper  end  of  punish- 
ment is  the  reformation  of  the  offender  and  the  pre- 
vention of  further  crimes,  and  that  therefore  the 
death  penalty  can  never  be  justly  inflicted.  It  may 
be  acknowledged  that  the  civil  law  ought  to  deal 
tenderly,  especially  with  offenders  whose  consciences 
are  not  utterly  hardened;  that  every  proper  means 
should  be  used  to  reclaim  them ;  and  that  to  restrain 
men  from  doing  like  things  is  an  important  end  in 
administering  justice.  But  it  is  a  radical  mistake 
to  allege  that  the  true  nature  of  punishment  is  to 
be  sought  in  either  of  these  things.  We  call  this 
the  administration  of  justice.  But  justice  means 
just  this — that  the  criminal  receives «<;Aa<  he  deserves. 
Some  crimes  are  worse  than  others,  in  their  own 
nature,  and  in  their  aggravating  circumstances,  and 
in  their  results.  Hence  punishments  differ.  But 
all  punishments  should  or  should  not  be  inflicted, 
according  to  the  desert  of  the  individual.  If  the 
worst  man  in  the  land  was  apprehended  and  pun- 
ished for  some  crime  of  which  he  was  innocent,  no 
plea  of  benefit  to  be  conferred  upon  him,  could  free 
such  a  sentence  from  the  charge  of  injustice.  Guilt 
is  the  only  thing  that  can  ju&tify  any  kind  of  pun- 
ishment; men  are  therefore  punished  because  they 


262  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

deserve  it.  And  no  other  valuable  influence  can 
ever  spring  from  the  administration  of  law,  unless 
this  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all,  that  justice  is  done. 
Men  are  punished  not  for  expediency's  sake,  nor  for 
the  sake  of  reformation ;  but  because  they  deserve 
it. 

2d.  It  is  urged  that  capital  punishments  come  to 
us  from  the  old  Mosaic  laws,  and  the  abrogation  of 
these  takes  aw^ay  all  the  force  of  authority  which 
would  establish  such  a  kind  of  punishment  among 
us.  We  may  freely  admit  that  many  of  the  pre- 
cepts given  through  Moses  to  the  Jewish  people  are 
not  binding  upon  us;  and  that  we  are  in  no  wise 
bound  to  copy  either  the  laws  or  the  punishments 
that  were  directly  adapted  to  the  Jewish  people. 
It  is  not  because  such  laws  were  given  to  them,  that 
we  argue  the  propriety  of  the  death  penalty  for  the 
crime  of  murder.  That  the  Jewish  people,  or  any 
people,  ever  had  the  right,  by  Divine  authority,  to 
take  away  life,  does  indeed  prove  that  the  power  of 
civil  government  over  the  lives  of  its  citizens  does 
not  at  all  depend  upon  their  consent  granted  to  that 
effect;  and  that  having  once  been  just  it  cannot  now 
be  essentially  and  radically  unjust. 

But  we  affirm  that  the  penalty  of  death  for  the 
crime  of  murder  dates  further  back  than  the  origin 
of  the  Jewish  people;  that  it  does  not  belong  to 
their  commonwealth,  and  is  not  a  peculiarity  of  the 
Theocratic  government;  and  that  therefore  neither 
its  propriety  nor  authority  is  affected  by  the  pass- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  2G3 

ing  away  of  the  Jewish  dispensation.  In  this  re- 
cord concerning  Cain,  we  have  the  propriety  of  this 
punishment  recognized  at  the  very  origin  of  human 
society ;  and  when  after  the  deluge  society  was  re- 
constructed for  all  mankind  in  our  second  father, 
Noah,  no  language  can  be  more  explicit  than  the 
charge  given  to  all  men  and  all  time  through  him. 
Where  is  the  evidence  that  God  ever  repealed  these 
words?  They  were  not  spoken  to  the  Jews,  but 
to  man.  "Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood  by  man 
shall  his  blood  be  shed."  And  if  there  was  any 
force  in  the  reason  assigned,  it  is  as  forcible  in  one 
land  or  age,  as  another ;  "  For  in  the  image  of  God 
made  he  man." 

If  it  can  be  proved  that  the  practice  of  putting  men 
to  death  for  the  crime  of  murder  prevailed  only  among 
the  Jewish  people,  there  might  be  more  force  in  the 
allegation  that  such  a  penalty  should  cease  with 
the  fall  of  the  Jewish  State.  But  the  universal 
prevalence  of  the  sentiment  forbids  us  to  think  tha-t 
it  either  belonged  specially  to  Jewish  law,  or  was 
copied  by  men  from  the  Jewish  statute  book.  That 
the  penalty  of  death  has  been  inflicted  in  every  land, 
and  under  every  style  of  government,  declares  it 
the  natural  dictate  of  man's  sense  of  justice. 

3d.  It  is  urged  against  capital  punishment  some- 
times that  it  is  too  severe,  and  at  other  times  that 
it  is  not  sufficiently  severe.  These  contradictory 
statements  sometimes  occur  in  the  same  argument ; 


264  ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES. 

and  prove  but  little  for  the  candor  of  those  who 
urge  them. 

It  is  vain  for  any  man  to  argue  that  death  is  a 
punishment  less  severe  than  a  lifelong  imprisonment. 
Men  do  not  plead  for  death  rather  than  imprison- 
ment :  criminals  never  ask  their  attorneys  to  secure 
for  them,  if  possible,  the  conviction  of  murder  in  the 
first  degree,  rather  than  the  second,  because  the 
first  has  the  milder  punishment  of  death ;  or  if  a 
man  was  sentenced  to  a  life  imprisonment  for  some 
great  offence,  men  would  not  consider  it  an  act  of 
mercy,  should  a  mob  wrest  him  from  the  hands  of 
the  officers  and  hang  him  on  the  road  to  the  peni- 
tentiary. Whatever  instances  of  morbid  folly  may 
be  addressed  to  the  contrary,  it  is  the  common  and 
just  sentiment  of  mankind,  that  death  is  the  severest 
penalty  that  human  law  can  inflict. 

And  just  because  it  is  so,  it  ought  to  be  inflicted 
for  the  highest  crime  of  which  man  can  be  guilty. 
There  are  men  who,  without  having  shed  blood,  are 
so  injurious  to  society  that  they  deserve  a  lifelong 
separation  from  their  fellows.  But  so  precious  a 
thing  is  human  life ;  so  widely  should  we  separate 
between  the  crime  that  takes  this  away  and  every 
other  crime,  that  the  highest  possible  penalty  is  not 
too  severe  for  its  punishment.  Nor  is  there  the 
slightest  force  in  the  cavil  that  we  thus  repeat  the 
very  offence  which  we  punish.  There  is  the  greatest 
possible  difference  between  the  same  things  done  by 
violence  and  done  by  law;  done  by  private  revenge 


ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES.  265 

or  private  vice,  and  done  by  public  justice.  If  a 
magistrate  lawfully  inflicts  a  fine  upon  me,  and 
the  sheriflf  clothed  with  the  proper  authority  forcibly 
takes  my  property  to  pay  that  fine ;  this  is  one 
thing.  If  a  robber  forcibly  takes  from  me  the 
same  amount,  it  is  quite  another  thing.  If  the 
law  takes  a  man's  life,  it  is  penalty:  if  an  un- 
authorized person  takes  away  life,  it  is  murder. 
Provocation  to  murder  may  extenuate  the  offence; 
hence  the  law  allows  of  several  degrees ;  but 
voluntarily,  unlawful  killing  is  always  criminal; 
and  by  this,  is  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  the 
authorized  acts  of  the  law.  What  folly  to  suppose 
that  the  Lawgiver  did  not  understand  his  own  law, 
when  he  declared  that  the  blood  of  the  murderer 
should  be  shed;  or  when  he  followed  the  general 
declaration.  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  by  numerous  ex- 
plicit directions  to  punish  certain  crimes  with  death ! 

Among  the  reasons  that  urge  that  the  murderer 
should  certainly  be  put  to  death,  may  be  mentioned 
such  as  these: 

1st.  The  sacredness  of  human  life  and  the  propriety 
of  throwing  every  possible  safeguard  around  the  in- 
nocent. Death  is  the  most  solemn  event  that  meets 
man  upon  the  earth.  No  greater  injury  can  be  in- 
flicted upon  any  man  than  to  take  his  life.  The 
man  who  will  wantonly  or  wickedly  commit  this 
highest  of  all  crimes,  justly  merits  the  highest  of  all 
penalties;  this  enormous  crime  should  have  a  pun- 
ishment of  extreme  severity. 
23 


266  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

2d.  The  direct  authority  of  the  Divine  law  vindi- 
cates the  righteousness  of  this  penalty.  That  can- 
not be  in  its  own  nature  unrighteous  that  has  so 
repeatedly  received  the  Divine  sanction ;  and  if  in 
some  states  of  society,  less  crimes  than  this  have 
been  thus  punished,  this  does  not  weaken  the  proof 
that  a  crime,  which  all  ages  and  all  nations  have 
consented  so  to  punish,  should  ever  require  the  death 
of  the  offender.  And  no  sophistry  can  evade  the 
direct  force  of  the  precept  given  to  Noah,  "Whoso 
sheddeth  man's  blood  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 
shed." 

3d.  If  capital  punishment  is  abolished  for  the 
crime  of  murder,  human  life  will  be  rendered  more 
insecure.  Many  a  wicked  man,  in  the  eager  pur- 
suit, for  slight  or  even  fancied  injuries,  will  run 
almost  any  risk  to  wreak  the  severest  revenge.  Let 
such  a  man  know  that  his  own  life  is  safe  in  any 
event,  even  when  he  takes  the  life  of  his  neighbour, 
and  he  will  not  stay  his  hand  from  this  foulest  deed. 
So  if  there  is  no  greater  punishment  for  murder, 
than  for  robbery,  many  a  witness  will  be  put  out  of 
the  way;  with  the  hope  that  both  crimes  may  escape 
detection,  and  with  the  certainty  that  the  discovery 
of  the  two  can  make  the  sentence  little  or  nothing 
more  severe.  To  lay  aside  the  death  penalty  from 
our  statute  book  is  to  throw  the  influence  of  our 
laws  around  the  criminal  for  his  protection,  while 
we  leave  just  men  more  exposed  to  violence  than 
oyer.     Let  us  sympathize  with  suffering,  but  not  to 


ADAM   AND    HIS    TIMES.  267 

legalize  violence;  not  to  allow  criminals  to  do  what 
none  but  thej  dare  do.  A  French  writer  upon  this 
subject  forcibly  sums  it  all  up  in  a  single  expres- 
sion. "  If  the  flow  of  human  blood  should  stop,  let 
the  murderers  set  the  example!"  Just  as  soon  as 
men  cease  to  take  away  the  lives  of  their  fellows 
by  wrong,  capital  punishment  by  law  may  cease; 
and  the  last  can  never  safely  be  laid  aside  till  the 
first  is  no  longer  known. 

4th.  So  strong  is  the  sense  of  indignation  and  right 
in  human  minds  against  foul  crimes,  that  to  abolish 
capital  punishments  will  certainly  tend  to  increase  the 
cases  in  which  human  life  will  be  sacrificed.  How 
comes  it  to  pass  that  in  our  own  land,  among  the  most 
intelligent  and  law-abiding  people  upon  earth,  we 
have  so  many  instances  of  Lynch  Law  and  of  Vigi- 
lance Committees?  If  the  laws  will  not  do  what 
the  moral  sense  of  the  community  declares  should  be 
done,  means  will  be  found  to  reach  the  end.  Yet 
far  better  execute  justice  by  law,  than  by  the  power 
of  the  most  respectable  Committee  of  Vigilance  that 
ever  existed. 

Nor,  5th,  does  human  experience  show  that  the 
penalty  of  death  can  be  justly  or  wisely  laid  aside. 
The  trial  has  been  made,  and  not  without  serious 
remonstrance  against  its  influence.  We  need  not 
attempt  to  gather  here  statistics  upon  such  a  sub- 
ject; but  may  simply  express  the  hope  that  the 
public  convictions  are  more  settled  in  support  of  the 


268  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

death  penalty  than  the   agitators    of  the   suhject 
seemed  to  threaten  a  few  years  ago. 

The  Divine  law  upon  the  subject  is  the  earliest 
instance,  of  legislation ;  it  was  repeated  the  first  of 
laws  when  the  world  was  repeopled;  it  is  compre- 
hensive in  its  terms;  it  has  the  same  reasons  to  en- 
force it  now  as  ever.  God  gave  it;  he  has  never 
repealed  it.  And  his  law  and  the  sense  of  justice 
in  every  human  breast  are  violated  by  its  repeal. 
No  reasons  exist  why  man  can  ever  wisely  or  justly 
set  himself  in  array  against  the  Divine  Legislator. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  269 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE    PUNISHMENT    OF    CAIN. 

The  question  may  naturally  be  asked,  Why  was 
the  penalty  of  death  remitted  to  the  first  murderer  ? 
If  human  life  is  so  sacred,  and  should  be  so  sacredly 
guarded,  why  should  the  example  be  so  early  set  of 
the  exemption  of  a  manslayer  whose  guilt  was  so 
aggravated,  and  whose  evil  influence  might  be  so 
wide  and  great? 

The  remission  of  a  penalty  is  no  disproof  of  its 
justice.  If  we  cannot  give  any  good  reason  for  the 
fact  that  God  not  only  exempted,  but  also  protected 
the  first  murderer  from  the  vengeance  of  man,  this 
does  not  invalidate  the  proof  that  the  law  was  ordi- 
narily otherwise.  The  necessity  of  a  mark  upon 
Cain  arose  from  the  law;  and  if  God  should  now  put 
a  well  known  mark  upon  any  man,  signifying  the 
Divine  will  that  we  should  not  punish  him,  we  ought 
to  regard  this  as  a  proper  reason  for  remitting  the 
penalty.  But  surely  the  reasoning  would  be  too 
absurd  to  say:  since  God  remitted  this  penalty, 
every  penalty  should  be  remitted,  and  no  murderer 
punished!  The  power  of  remitting  or  commuting 
23* 


270  ADAM    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

punishment  ever  belongs  to  sovereign  authority ;  its 
exercise  must  be  governed  by  the  discretion  of  the 
executive ;  and  the  law  is  still  the  same,  even  when 
we  cannot  explain  why  this  clemency  is  shown. 

\Ye  do  not  know  for  what  reason  God  remitted 
the  penalty  of  death  for  the  sin  of  Cain.  But  it  is 
not  hard  to  see  that  one  reason  would  make  his 
punishment  more  difficult  and  delicate  than  that  of 
any  subsequent  manslayer,  and  would  render  the 
remission  of  his  punishment  almost  as  much  a  favour 
to  others  as  to  himself.  If  Cain  should  have  been 
put  to  death  not  long  after  his  offence,  we  may  ask 
the  question,  By  whose  hands  must  the  sentence  be 
executed?  Cain  was  himself  the  oldest  man  on  the 
earth,  except  his  own  father;  and  as  Adam  had  no 
childhood,  but  was  created  a  mature  man,  perhaps 
his  eldest  son,  though  he  would  appear  much 
younger,  was  really  only  a  year  or  two  younger 
than  his  father.  By  whose  hands  then  must  Cain 
die,  if  the  law  was  carried  out?  Must  Adam  take 
the  life  of  his  first  born  ?  If  not  he,  then  the  circle 
of  men  next  younger  were  Cain's  own  brothers. 
Must  they  execute  the  law  against  him  ?  It  seemed 
necessary  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case  to  choose 
between  these  two  things :  either  to  delay  the  death 
of  Cain  until  a  generation  of  men  had  grown  up  who 
were  but  distantly  related;  or  to  lay  the  heavy 
burden  of  putting  him  to  death  upon  some  near  and 
tender  relative.  This  was  the  unparalleled  state  of 
things  that  this  unhappy  criminal  was  a  near  rela- 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  271 

tive  of  every  living  soul  upon  the  earth ;  and  though 
justice  did  require  his  death,  yet  it  could  not  then 
occur  without  doing  violence  to  the  tenderest  feel- 
ings of  humanity.  God's  leniency  towards  the 
murderer  was  to  spare  the  feelings  of  others.  The 
law  could  be  carried  out  without  such  a  sacrifice  of 
feeling  in  later  times.  It  could  not  then.  Nor  is 
this  the  only  instance  in  which  the  circumstances 
of  Adam's  family  tended  to  modify  the  laws  after- 
wards enforced. 

But  if  the  living  men  were  all  his  near  kindred, 
why  did  Cain  fear  that  some  man  finding  him  would 
kill  him?  Doubtless  there  were  men  enough  living 
on  the  earth  at  that  time ;  for  the  increase  of  Adam's 
family  may  have  been  rapid.  But  no  matter  how 
numerous  they  are,  they  were  all  near  relatives. 
But  there  is  no  necessity  for  supposing  that  Cain's 
fears  all  referred  to  the  present  time.  Perhaps 
Cain  lived  more  than  six  hundred  years  after  the 
death  of  Abel;  by  that  time  the  earth  would  be 
covered  with  a  large  population;  some  of  these 
would  be  far  removed  from  him  in  relationship ;  and 
without  the  assurance  of  Divine  protection,  he  might 
be  liable  to  be  put  to  death  at  any  time.  It  is  God's 
design  that  since  Cain  does  not  die  in  immediate 
connection  with  his  crime,  he  shall  not  live  for 
ages  in  apprehension  that  the  stroke  may  one  day 
come. 

But  though  that,  which  we  regard  as  the  natural 
penalty  of  Cain's  crime,  was  for  this  or  other  reasons 


272  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

remitted,  he  was  not  wholly  without  punishment. 
The  mere  discovery  of  crime  has  often  the  effect  to 
awaken  remorse  in  the  criminal,  which  he  has  not 
felt  so  long  as  his  crime  remained  unknown.  Espe- 
cially the  voice  of  God  can  easily  arouse  the 
slumbering  conscience  of  the  guilty.  Even  after 
such  a  crime,  Cain  uttered  a  lie  in  his  Maker's  pre- 
sence, and  with  bold-browed  insolence  refuses  to  be 
interrogated  as  his  brother's  keeper.  But  soon  the 
scene  changes;  his  heart  is  filled  with  terror;  and 
he  hears  with  dismay  the  sentence  that  hardens  the 
earth  beneath  him ;  and  sends  him  forth  a  restless, 
unhappy  wanderer  from  the  tents  of  his  father  and 
the  presence  of  God.  Away  from  God's  sight  he 
could  not  go ;  perhaps  there  was  some  manifestation 
of  God  in  a  place  of  appointed  worship ;  perhaps 
any  worship  that  Cain  might  offer  could  no  longer 
have  hope  of  acceptance. 

The  conscience  of  a  sinner  may  be  long  careless ; 
new  engagements  in  life,  new  crimes  against  God 
or  man  may  harden  the  heart ;  but  at  any  moment 
the  transgressor  is  liable  to  an  awakening  by  the 
voice  of  God  or  the  finger  of  Providence,  that  shall 
banish  all  his  false  peace.  Happy  is  he  whose  con- 
science is  early  awakened.  Happy  he  who  truly 
repents  of  sin,  and  implores  the  Divine  mercy  when 
God  speaks  to  his  conscience  !  We  know  not  how 
to  interpret  the  complaint  of  Cain;  but  it  is  evi- 
dently the  voice  of  misery,  however  we  understand 
it.     If  we  take  the  words  just  as  they  stand  in  the 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  273 

English  Bible,  "  My  punishment  is  greater  than  I 
can  bear:"  we  may  know  that  a  man  may  have  in 
his  own  breast  a  sense  of  wretchedness  through  his 
own  sins,  the  most  insupportable.  There  are  some 
who  argue  that  the  punishments  of  sin  are  through 
the  conscience  alone;  and  that  every  transgressor 
even  in  this  life  receives  constantly  the  just  reward 
of  his  transgressions.  This  is  teaching  very  diiferent 
from  human  experience,  and  from  the  word  of  God. 
Human  experience  teaches  that  the  more  men  sin, 
the  more  indifferent  ordinarily  do  they  become  to 
the  commission  of  sin;  and  the  Bible  teaches  that 
"because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not 
executed  speedily,  therefore  the  hearts  of  the  children 
of  men  are  fully  set  within  them  to  do  evil."  To 
say  that  men  always  feel  the  remorse  due  to  their 
sins  in  this  life,  is  to  express  an  error  dangerous  in 
its  tendencies  and  unsupported  by  any  wise  teach- 
ings. To  affirm  that  they  are  sometimes  awakened 
to  keen  remorse,  and  that  then  their  anguish  is 
grievous  to  be  borne,  is  a  truth  of  immense  im- 
portance. For  if,  even  here,  God  lays  his  heavy 
hand  upon  the  transgressor,  when  there  are  so  many 
things  around  to  alleviate  his  sorrows  and  to  engage 
his  thoughts,  who  can  bear  the  anguish  of  that  world 
of  woe,  w^here  all  reasons  for  Divine  forbearance 
will  be  gone,  and  the  soul  shall  only  bear  his  wrath  ? 
It  implies  the  anguish  of  Cain's  mind,  if  we  take 
his  words  in  another  sense,  which  may  belong  to 
them,  and  which  is  expressed  in  the  marginal  read- 


■274  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

ing  of  the  English  Bible:  *'Mine  iniquity  is  greater 
than  that  it  may  be  forgiven."  We  do  not  know 
that  Cain  had  sinned  beyond  the  Divine  forgiveness. 
Rather,  the  true  scheme  of  Divine  mercy  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  this  sacred  volume,  encourages 
even  great  transgressors  to  return  to  God  and  live. 
But  this  wretched  man  before  this  refused  to  draw 
near  to  God  in  the  appointed  methods  of  his  worship ; 
and  now,  in  the  time  of  his  acknowledged  guilt,  he 
shows  no  disposition  to  adopt  that  system  of  faith, 
on  account  of  which  he  had  slain  his  brother.  We 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  God's  forbearance 
towards  him  gave  him  opportunities  for  repentance. 
But  we  have  no  evidence  that  he  ever  did  repent. 
The  reverse  seems  to  be  taught  us.  Cain  went  out 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  Away  from  the 
place  of  God's  appointed  worship;  away  from  the 
society  of  those  that  loved  and  feared  God,  he  vol- 
untarily went  forth.  This  is  the  crowning  proof 
of  Cain's  impenitence ;  this  marks  the  essential  dis- 
tinction between  remorse  and  repentance.  There 
is  a  sorrow  for  sin  that  is  a  sorrow  of  the  world ;  its 
mark  is,  that  it  drives  a  man  away  from  God  and 
piety,  and  its  end  is  death.  There  is  a  godly  sor- 
row, that  grieves  before  God,  and  leads  the  penitent 
towards  God,  seeking  forgiveness  and  practising 
obediences ;  and  this  sorrow  alone  is  unto  life,  and 
is  itself  not  to  be  repented  of. 

Sin  is  a  fearful  thing ;  but  impenitence  in  view 
of  God's  forbearance  and  mercy,  greatly  aggravates 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  275 

iniquity,  and  more  clearly  justifies  God's  condemna- 
tion of  the  sinner.  Great  a  sinner  as  Cain  was,  hia 
sin  was  greater  far,  for  his  hardening  his  spirit  in 
such  obstinate  unbelief.  Doubtless  Cain  thought 
hard  of  God.  Impenitence  always  prompts  this 
feeling.  A  wise  sinner  will  beware  of  it.  God  is 
holy,  wise,  and  just;  we  are  through  sin  prone  to 
self-deceit  and  self-indulgence.  That  only  is  true 
penitence,  which  both  acknowledges  the  equity  of 
the  Divine  sentence,  and  seeks  forgiveness  through 
mercy. 

Men  who  may  not  reach  the  deep  measure  of 
Cain's  iniquity,  nor  go  through  the  earth  with  the 
mark  of  Cain  upon  them,  must  still  beware  that  they 
copy  not  his  impenitence.  Let  a  man's  sins  be  great 
or  small,  if  he  goes  out  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord ;  if  he  turns  away  from  his  gospel,  his  mercy- 
seat,  and  his  service,  he  goes  in  the  way  of  Cain, 
and  he  shall  meet  the  woe  of  Cain.  And  every 
step  in  this  way  is  dangerous.  Wisdom  bids  the 
sinful  soul  stop  now;  and  God's  voice  pleads,  ''To- 
day .  .  .  harden  not  your  hearts." 


276  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

CALLING    UPON    THE    LORD. 

It  is  the  kind  ordination  of  Divine  Providence 
that  time  alleviates  our  most  poignant  sorrows.  The 
human  mind  could  not  long  endure  the  pressure  of 
such  griefs  as  sometimes  fall  upon  us;  and  though 
there  are  sufferings  we  cannot  learn  to  forget,  yet 
the  anguish  of  such  is  softened  by  the  demands 
which  new  duties  make  upon  our  thoughts  and  cares. 
Such  trouble  as  had  now  fallen  upon  Adam's  family, 
must  have  cast  its  gloomy  shadow  far  forward  upon 
the  long  pathway  of  their  lives.  Many  an  hour  of 
tears,  many  a  pang  of  bitter  grief,  would  memory 
bring  upon  Adam  and  Eve,  as  they  recalled  the 
death  of  Abel,  and  the  stern  brow  and  the  haughty 
impenitence  of  their  exiled  first  born.  Yet  their 
minds  were  engaged  and  relieved  by  the  healthful 
occupations  of  life ;  and  the  cares  of  an  increasing 
household  prevented  them  from  brooding  over  their 
great  grief.  Shortly  after  the  murder  of  Abel 
another  son  was  born.  Him  they  named  Seth ;  and 
he  was  received  by  Eve  as  Abel's  successor.  Yet 
we  believe  that  many  sons  and  daughters  had  before 


ADAM   AND    IIIS   TIMES.  277 

this  been  born  to  our  first  parents.  We  may  trust 
that  Scth  specially  possessed  the  faith  and  character 
of  Abel.  His  descendants  received  the  promises; 
and  through  him  four  thousand  years  later,  the 
promised  Seed  was  born.  On  this  account  the 
name  of  Seth  is  t*bus  specially  mentioned  of  Adam's 
sons. 

After  this  we  have  but  few  words  concerning 
Adam.  But  the  record  of  the  age  to  which  he 
lived,  teaches  us  that  Adam  saw  eight  lineal  genera- 
tions of  his  children,  and  died  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  years  before  the  birth  of  Noah.  The 
most  remarkable  occurrences  of  the  antediluvian 
period  occurred  while  the  first  father  yet  lived.  He 
lived  to  see  a  vast  increase  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion, the  spread  of  corruption  and  violence,  and  the 
world  fast  ripening  for  the  judgments  of  God. 
Polygamy  sprung  up,  a  fruitful  source  of  evils  in 
all  the  history  of  man ;  and  murder  became  no  un- 
common event. 

But  while  many  dark  shades  rested  upon  the 
picture  of  human  life  spread  before  the  eyes  of 
Adam,  there  were  also  scenes  of  joy  and  cheerful- 
ness. Perhaps  one  of  these  is  signified  by  the 
record  made  shortly  after  the  birth  of  Seth,  ''Then 
began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
Standing  by  itself,  we  cannot  indeed  decide  certainly 
upon  the  meaning  of  the  expression.  Some  have 
even  thought  that  this  is  a  record  of  evil;  and  that 
then  first  men  began  to  use  the  name  of  God  pro- 
24 


2T8  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

fanely.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  the 
proper  use  of  the  Divine  name  would  naturally  pre- 
cede the  profane  use  of  it ;  and  this  is  proof  of  the 
exceeding  wickedness  of  profane  swearing,  that  it  is 
WORSHIP  IN  MOCKERY.  Profane  swearers  do  not 
think  as  they  say ;  nor  mean  the  full  wickedness  of 
their  words;  nor  of  deliberate  purpose  insult  God, 
and  call  for  his  vengeance.  But  scarcely  any 
wickedness  has  less  of  justifying  apologies,  is  more 
purely  wicked  in  itself,  has  a  greater  direct  tendency 
to  dishonour  God  and  bring  contempt  upon  him,  and 
is  of  less  advantage  to  the  transgressor,  than  the 
vice  of  profanity.  It  is  always  a  social  vice. 
Nobody  ever  learned  to  swear  by  himself,  or  cared 
to  indulge  in  profanity,  unless  after  the  bad  habit 
was  firmly  fixed,  except  in  the  hearing  of  others. 
Thus  the  profane  man  is  always  a  sower  of  mischief. 
lie  calls  upon  all  who  hear  his  profane  words,  and 
bids  them  mock  God.  How  any  man  of  common 
sense  and  having  a  single  serious  thought,  not  to 
speak  of  pious  feeling,  can  read  over  such  a  tract 
as  the  "Swearer's  Prayer,"  and  then  ever  venture 
to  open  his  lips  in  profanity,  is  most  amazing.  Yet 
that  men  can  so  do,  is  proof  that  the  darkest  teach- 
ings of  the  Bible  concerning  human  depravity  are 
but  too  true.  What  a  world  of  iniquity  this  is  by 
reason  of  profanity!  The  oaths  of  men  far  out- 
number their  prayers;  and  it  is  well  that  God  is  of 
long  suffering  mercy.  And  many  persons,  who  do 
not  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain,  yet  venture  upon 


ADAM  AND   HIS   TIMES.  279 

the  borders  of  profanity  by  many  expletives  that 
partake  of  the  same  nature,  that  are  useless  in 
themselves,  and  that  are  of  evil  tendency. 

But  although  this  form  of  human  wickedness  may 
have  prevailed  early  in  the  history  of  the  race,  we 
do  not  think  that  its  origin  is  here  recorded.  Nor 
do  the  words  mean  that  then  men  first  began  to 
pray.  It  is  indeed  striking  that  the  Bible  can 
hardly  be  said  to  command  us  to  pray.  Its  in- 
junctions to  this  duty  seem  rather  to  be  directions 
concerning  the  manner,  tlfe  spirit,  and  the  objects 
of  prayer ;  and  thus  they  take  this  duty  for  granted 
as  one  of  natural  obligation,  or  as  a  privilege  that 
needs  no  law  to  command  it.  Dr.  Dwight  remarks 
that  the  first  command  to  pray  is  found  in  Ps.  cxxii. 
6.  "Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem;"  and  this 
was  given  after  the  world  was  three  thousand  years 
old.*  But  even  this  rather  exhorts  to  plead  for 
a  special  thing,  than  commands  the  mere  duty 
of  prayer.  So  our  Lord  says,  "  Thou,  when  thou 
'prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet."  Thus  he  directs  us 
how  to  pray,  rather  than  commands  the  duty.  We 
may  believe  that  to  the  spiritual  mind  prayer  is  as 
natural  as  breath  to  the  body.  Men  could  not  live 
one  day  in  a  world  of  wants  like  this,  surely  neither 
Adam  nor  Abel  could  be  believers  in  the  promises 
of  a  merciful  God,  without  prayer.  The  first  pro- 
mise in  Eden  was  the  first  encouragement  to  pray. 
When  Abel  stood  by  his  accepted  altar,  the  sacrifice 
*Theol.  Serm.,  p.  141. 


280  ADAM    AND   HIS   TIMES. 

itself  was  a  mute  prayer;  and  his  faith  doubtless 
gave  audible  utterance  to  the  emotions  of  his  heart. 
The  Apostle  Paul  may  be  understood  to  teach  clearly 
that  prayer  is  implied  in  every  act  of  worship. 
*'He  that  cometh  unto  God  must  believe  that  he  is, 
and  that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently 
seek  him."  Heb.  xi.  6.  Prayer  was  scarcely  first 
offered  in  the  days  of  Enos. 

Others  suppose  that  calling  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  which  had  its  origin  in  the  days  of  this  son- 
of  Seth,  may  signify  the  first  establishment  of  public 
worship  among  men.  But  we  know  that  the  Sab- 
bath was  in  existence  from  the  beginning ;  the  offer- 
ing of  sacrifices  was  a  public  service ;  and  we  cannot 
think  that  gatherings  for  worship,  which  included 
even  small  numbers  when  the  inhabitants  of  the 
world  were  few,  should  be  denied  the  name  of  public 
worship.  Others  refer  the  meaning  of  the  words  to 
the  greater  difference  which  about  this  time  began 
to  prevail  between  the  church  and  the  world.  So 
the  marginal  reading  is,  "  Then  began  men  to  call 
themselves  by  the  name  of  the  Lord."  So  a  little 
later  we  read  of  intermarriages  between  the  sons  of 
God  and  the  daughters  of  men.  Adam  trained  his 
entire  family  in  the  same  religious  faith.  The  force 
of  education  would  lead  them  all  to  have  some  re- 
spect to  piety  for  a  while,  even  when  they  were  not 
pious ;  but  gradually  throwing  off  those  wholesome  re- 
straints, the  time  came  for  the  clear  distinction  to 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  281 

mark  those  who  did  and  those  who  did  not  serve 
Ood. 

But  in  his  "History  of  Redemption,"  President 
Edwards  interprets  these  words  in  still  a  different 
sense.  He  understands  it  as  the  record  of  the  first 
general  and  powerful  revival  of  religion  among  the 
sons  of  men.  Amidst  the  corruption  that  began  to 
overspread  the  world,  Adam  had  the  delight  to  see  a 
time  of  the  flourishing  of  true  piety.  The  enemy 
came  in  like  a  flood,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
lifted  up  a  standard  against  him.  As  that  eminent 
man  remarks,  ever  since  the  establishment  of  the 
church,  God  has  been  pleased  to  carry  forward 
his  work  among  men  by  granting  times  of  the 
remarkable  outpouring  of  his  Spirit.  There  are  in- 
deed ordinary  workings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  ac- 
companying the  gospel,  and  making  it  effectual  to 
the  salvation  of  sinful  men,  in  all  ages  and  lands 
where  his  truth  is  preached.  Yet  by  special  seasons 
of  mercy — called,  commonly,  revivals  of  religion — 
he  has  ever  been  pleased  to  glorify  his  name,  and 
to  gather  men  in  greater  numbers  to  partake  of  his 
grace.  In  the  days  of  Enos  such  a  time  of  refresh- 
ing came  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord;  and  men 
began  to  call  upon  him. 

A  time  of  revival  calls  forth  the  deep  anxiety  of 
God's  people.  For  if  then  many  forsake  the  world 
for  the  service  of  God,  many  too  remain  hardened 
in  sin ;  many  are  only  almost  persuaded  to  forsake 
sin ;  and  many  indulge  transient  purposes  of  peni- 
24* 


282  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

tence  and  transient  joys  in  a  profession  of  piety. 
In  times  of  revival  the  religious  feelings  of  men 
rapidly  tend  to  an  issue;  and  men  soon  decide  the 
momentous  issues  of  life  or  death  eternal.  A  few 
brief  passing  days  or  hours  often  determine  the 
choice  of  many  immortal  souls.  After  such  a  season 
has  been  enjoyed  in  any  community,  the  line  of  dis- 
tinction is  often  more  clearly  drawn  between  the 
sons  of  God  and  the  children  of  men.  Perhaps  after 
this  first  revival  upon  earth,  the  world  and  the 
church  existed  with  a  more  marked  separation. 
There  was  much  indeed  to  bring  them  together. 
Descended  of  the  same  natural  parents,  the  creatures 
of  the  same  God,  subject  to  the  same  law,  partakers 
of  the  same  nature,  having  like  capabilities,  like 
necessities,  like  immortality,  and  invited  to  worship 
at  the  same  altar,  in  the  exercise  of  a  like  faith ;  all 
men,  in  the  world  and  in  the  church,  should  have 
bowed  together  before  their  common  Father,  and 
have  longed  to  partake  of  his  Spirit's  saving  influ- 
ences. Alas !  the  fatal  difference  between  the  sons 
of  Adam  still  exists,  and  has  grown  no  less  as  the 
world  has  grown  older.  Why  is  not  q^ne  man,  per- 
sonally, as  deeply  interested  as  any  other  man  in 
the  principles  of  religion,  and  in  the  possession  of 
piety  ?  Every  man  needs  the  grace  of  God  for  his 
forgiveness  and  renewal  and  everlasting  life. 

As  religion  and  irreligion  struggled  with  each 
other  in  the  earth,  no  man  could  feel  a  deeper  in- 
terest in  the  issue  than  the  father  of  the  race. 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  283 

These  were  all  his  children.  More  than  this :  When 
he  saw  so  many  depart  from  God,  and  fill  the  earth 
with  violence,  he  could  not  forget  that  by  his  guilty 
folly,  sin  had  entered  the  world.  How  little  re- 
pentance can  avail  to  repair  the  evils  man  has  done, 
we  may  learn  from  the  experience  of  Adam.  And 
his  was  great  joy  when  he  saw  some  walking  in 
paths  of  piety.  But  in  every  age  of  the  world,  and 
not  less  among  the  long-lived  men  for  whose  wicked- 
ness the  flood  soon  came,  few  have  walked  in  the 
way  of  life ;  and  the  broad  and  downward  road  has 
been  crowded.  As  Adam  looked  upon  his  increasing 
race,  the  words  of  the  curse  in  Eden  were  fulfilled, 
^'In  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  bread  all  the  days  of  thy 
life." 


284  ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

LONG    LIFE. 

*'  It  is  not  growing  like  a  tree 
In  bulk,  doth  make  man  better  be, 
Or  standing  long  an  oak,  three  hundred  year 
To  fall  a  log  at  last,  dry,  bald,  and  sear ; 
A  lily  of  a  day 
Is  fairer  far  in  May, 
Although  it  fall  and  die  that  night. 
It  was  the  plant  and  flower  of  light; 
In  small  proportions  we  just  beauties  see 
And  in  short  measures  life  may  perfect  be." 

B.  JONSON. 

The  long  lives  of  men  in  the  early  history  of  the 
world  are  a  matter  of  interest  to  us,  whose  term  of 
earthly  existence  is  but  one  tenth  as  long.  Adam 
himself  may  be  said  to  have  had  as  long  a  period 
of  adult  life  as  any  of  his  children.  It  may  be  that 
some  lived  a  thousand  years.  The  longest  life 
recorded  is  that  of  Methuselah :  this  was  969 ;  end- 
ing with  the  very  year  of  the  flood.  No  decided 
record  is  given  of  the  character  of  Methuselah.  As 
he  was  in  the  line  of  piety  and  the  ancestor  of  Noah, 
we  may  hope  that  he  was  a  good  man ;  and  perhaps 


ADAM   AND    HIS   TIMES.  '  285 

the  very  deluge  was  delayed  until  after  his  removal. 
If  not,  perhaps  as  a  wicked  man,  he  perished  in  this 
great  judgment  of  God. 

The  long  lives  of  men  made  it  a  more  easy  thing 
to  transmit  the  chief  events  of  history  from  one 
generation  to  another.  Not  more  than  six  or  seven 
persons  would  be  necessary  to  transmit  the  earliest 
portions  of  the  world's  history  down  to  the  times  of 
Moses.  Methuselah  lived  more  than  two  hundred 
years  contemporaneously  with  Adam,  and  one  hun- 
dred years  with  Shem ;  and  Adam,  Methuselah,  and 
Shem  could  convey  intelligence  learned  from  before 
the  flood,  even  as  far  down  as  the  days  of  Jacob. 
Thus  the  witnesses  would  be  few,  and  the  line  direct 
to  pass  down  human  traditions ;  a  matter  of  great 
importance  when  men  had  no  written  records.  Yet 
we  do  not  depend  upon  their  memories  for  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  history  we  possess.  Even  if  Moses, 
our  historian  of  these  early  times,  derived  his  in- 
formation originally  from  oral  tradition,  the  influ- 
ence of  God's  Holy  Spirit  cast  out  from  his  records 
every  form  of  error,  and  supplied  every  needful 
truth.  For  the  holy  men  of  old,  in  writing  the 
sacred  volume,  "spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

The  length  of  human  life  was  gradually  and  rapidly 
shortened  after  the  flood ;  so  that  in  the  times  of 
Moses  men  lived  to  the  same  term  of  life  now  com- 
mon on  the  earth.  The  gradual  shortening  of  the 
term  of  existence  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  v. 


286  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

and  the  xi.  chapters  of  Genesis.  Almost  every  age 
in  the  v.  chapter  is  over  nine  hundred  years ;  in 
chapter  xi.  Shorn  lived  over  six  hundred  years ;  his 
three  next  descendants  average  less  than  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty ;  and  the  three  next  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five ;  and  the  three  next  less  than  two  hundred. 
Mcses  himself  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years;  but  in  Ps.  xc.  written  by  him,  the 
usual  term  of  human  life  is  mentioned  as  seventy 
years.  Even  now  unusual  cases  of  longevity  occur, 
running  up  over  160  years.  Sixty  years  ago  a  man 
died  in  Norway  aged  160;  thirty  years  ago  one  died 
in  Russia  aged  165.  Men  may  live  90,  100,  120 
years,  or  even  more ;  yet  after  seventy,  their  strength 
is  usually  "labour  and  sorrow." 

Perhaps  the  chief  reason  for  the  shortening  of 
human  life  is  a  moral  reason.  Our  time  upon  the 
earth  is  very  brief  and  unsatisfactory,  if  this  is  the 
only  life  man  is  ever  to  possess.  But  if  the  present 
life  is  designed  to  be  but  preparatory  to  another 
and  an  endless  one;  if  God  designs  that  we  should 
fix  our  thoughts  upon  higher  service  and  higher  en- 
joyments than  can  belong  to  us  here,  then  the  pre- 
sent life  is  sufficiently  long  to  enable  us  to  prepare 
for  another.  This  is  the  season  of  our  minority, 
and  our  chief  concern  should  be  to  use  well  the 
important  hours,  with  our  eyes  fixed  upon  the  more 
desirable  state  for  which  they  prepare  us.  How 
rare  a  thing  it  is  to  see  a  child  long  to  remain  a 


ADAM    AND    HIS   TIMES.  287 

child!     Rather  how  children  wish   the  slow  years 
would  hasten  away  that  they  may  be  men ! 

Is  it  likely  that  we  would  prepare  better  to  leave 
the  earth,  if  the  allotted  time  of  our  remaining  here 
was  lengthened  ten  fold?  Is  it  not  true  now  that 
religious  thoughts  and  purposes  are  delayed  in  our 
earlier  years,  with  the  hope  and  promise  of  future 
care  and  repentance  ?  We  can  scarcely  doubt  that 
a  long  life  upon  earth — that  the  hope  of  living  for 
centuries  would  operate  unfavourably  to  the  religious 
characters  of  men.  We  are  not  surprised — even 
judging  from  the  experience  we  have  of  human 
nature — that  generations  of  long-lived  men  were 
generations  of  giants  in  wickedness,  and  that  the 
earth  was  filled  with  violence.  Give  men  the  pro- 
spect of  living  long,  and  they  will  usually  expect  to 
repent  late ;  and  alas !  all  experience  proves  that  the 
promise  to  repent  late  is  usually  followed  by  repent- 
ing never.  If  men  pass  their  early  years  in  folly 
and  sin,  there  is  but  little  hope  that  they  will  begin 
to  fear  and  serve  God  when  riper  years  come. 
Their  habits  are  so  strong ;  their  companions  pos- 
sess so  much  influence;  perhaps  their  past  deeds  of 
evil  are  too  shameful  to  be  confessed;  perhaps  their 
present  engagements  are  too  profitable  to  be  given 
up ;  perhaps  they  have  formed  prejudices  too  power- 
ful against  religious  men  and  religious  teachers. 
Wonderful  and  numerous  are  the  ties  which  bind 
evil  men  to  evil  ways,  when  they  have  for  years 
chosen  the  paths  of  error.     A  labyrinth  of  mazy 


288  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

wanderings  is  that  home  of  earthly  and  sinful  plea- 
sures in  which  the  Prince  of  this  world  receives  and 
entertains  his  subjects.  Few  that  go  with  him  re- 
turn ;  they  become  more  and  more  entangled ;  his 
house  is  the  way  to  hell,  going  down  to  the  chambers 
of  death. 

If  we  found  by  common  observation  that  men 
after  a  while  became  tired  of  sinning,  and  turned 
of  their  own  accord  to  better  courses,  we  might  be- 
lieve that  a  long  life  here  would  prove  favourable  to 
religion  and  morality.  But  this  is  the  reverse  of 
human  experience.  The  heart  becomes  hardened 
against  good  and  careless  of  transgression  by  long 
habits.  How  rare  and  strange  the  prodigy  of  the 
conversion  from  any  evil,  say  of  a  man  who  has 
been  a  transgressor  for  sixty  or  seventy  years  !  Go 
into  any  of  the  abodes  of  sin  in  this  land ;  and  use 
your  efforts  to  reform  the  guilty.  Lift  up  that 
fallen  form,  which  intemperance  has  degraded. 
Comb  back  the  gray  hairs  and  look  upon  that 
marred  face.  Speak  plainly  and  kindly  to  that 
aged  heart.  How  much  hope  have  you  that  the 
drunkard  of  seventy  will  leave  his  cup?  Can  the 
Ethiopian  change  his  skin  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ? 
And  if  you  cannot  dissolve  habits  that  have  been 
strengthened  by  indulgence  for  seventy  years,  what 
would  you  do  for  a  wicked  man  who  had  lived  seven 
or  eight  hundred  ?  It  is  not  only  habits  of  intem- 
perance that  are  by  years  more  inveterate.  The 
very  term  expresses  the  usual  opinions  of  men — in- 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  289 

veterate,  fixed  by  age.  Every  vice  is  stronger  when 
it  is  older ;  and  when  even  the  physical  energies  are 
too  weak  to  pursue  the  object,  the  mind  remains  the 
same.  We  know  the  power  of  Divine  grace  is  irre- 
sistible ;  but  the  change  of  an  aged  sinner  is  a  re- 
markable and  uncommon  event. 

As  every  sinner  hardened  in  vice  becomes  a 
tempter  of  others ;  and  uses  his  cunning  and  influ- 
ence to  seduce  others  to  evil,  we  need  not  wonder 
that  wickedness  greatly  increased  in  the  antediluvian 
world.  When  we  consider  how  much  more  easily 
evil  can  be  wrought  than  good,  we  may  well  fear 
to  think  how  much  mischief  one  single  bad  man 
could  do  in  a  community  where  he  would  use 
eiforts  to  corrupt  the  youth  for  fifty  years.  If 
the  history  of  some  living  men  could  be  faithfully 
written  for  only  ten  years  back ;  if  we  could  see 
how  they  themselves  have  grown,  in  that  time, 
more  hardened,  more  cunning,  more  heaven-daring; 
if  we  could  note  their  numerous  secret  eff'orts  to 
corrupt  society  and  to  ruin  souls ;  if  we  could  trace 
the  spread  of  their  influence  through  various  victims 
all  over  the  land,  and  in  coming  years,  we  might 
well  stand  appalled  at  the  gathering  wickedness 
of  one  man  in  ten  years  of  time.  How  rich  some 
men  will  be  when  their  gathered  treasures  are  laid 
before  them  at  the  final  day !  Rich  in  the  awful 
wrath  of  God ! 

But  give  that  bad  man  the  hope  of  exemption 
from  the  stroke  of  death  for  nine  hundred  years 
25 


290  ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES. 

of  earthly  life;  let  him  have  the  experience  and  the 
cunning  and  the  recklessness  which  time  brings, 
not  for  decades  but  for  centuries;  and  not  onlj 
may  you  give  up  hope  of  his  repentance,  but  you 
may  confess  that  one  such  man  in  any  city,  sets  at 
defiance  every  salutary  effort,  and  puts  in  peril  the 
best  interests  of  every  family  that  dwells  near  him. 
We  do  not  think  that  longer  life  than  men  now  or- 
dinarily possess  would  be  favourable  to  the  interests 
of  public  morals  or  a  benefit  to  themselves.  If  men 
are  disposed  to  serve  God  and  do  good,  they  live 
here  long  enough  to  show  this.  The  man  who  can 
live  on  earth  for  forty  years  careless  of  God  and 
neglectful  of  his  soul's  salvation,  may  indeed  think 
on  his  ways  and  repent  and  seek  the  Divine  forgive- 
ness afterwards.  But  so  long  a  period  spent  in  sin 
and  voluntary  neglect  of  God  leaves  him  no  room 
to  complain,  if  a  life  thus  spent  should  be  cut  short 
without  experience  of  the  Divine  mercy;  and  it  is 
too  true  that  the  likelihood  of  repentance  in  such 
a  man  rapidly  decreases  with  increasing  years.  He 
who  will  not  serve  God  in  a  life  that  may  reach  to 
seventy  or  ninety,  would  not  likely  serve  him  any 
better  in  a  life  of  seven  or  nine  hundred.  Time 
enough  is  now  allotted  for  those  that  walk  here  in 
the  ways  of  piety,  to  show  their  love  and  their  zeal 
for  God;  and  with  less  experience  of  sorrow  and 
temptation  they  are  earlier  rewarded  with  the  rest 
and  bliss  of  heaven.  Time  enough  for  the  working 
of  evil  is  allotted  to  those  who  cast  off  the  obligations 


ADAM   AND   HIS   TIMES.  291 

of  the  Divine  law ;  the  earth  is  earlier  free  from  the 
evil  of  their  example ;  and  they  sooner  pass  to  their 
merited  doom.  The  life  of  men  on  earth  is  short, 
but  long  enough  if  rightly  used,  and  if  properly  re- 
garded as  only  the  threshold  of  an  eternal  existence. 

The  sacred  writers  say  but  little  of  the  dying 
scenes  of  any  believer's  life.  We  are  not  told  how 
Adam  died.  But,  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years 
after  he  had  first  awaked  to  life  amid  the  sweet 
melodies  of  Paradise,  our  first  father  met  the  curse 
pronounced  upon  his  early  guilt,  and  returned  to 
his  original  dust.  The  brief  record  of  so  long  a 
life  may  suggest  to  us  many  profitable  reflections. 
If  his  long  life  seemed  but  a  brief  and  troubled 
dream,  how  vain  is  ours !  If  this  is  the  record  for 
such  a  man,  how  insignificant  are  we  upon  the  earth ! 
And  if  our  earthly  time  is  given  us  to  prepare  for 
eternity  and  is  long  enough — not  more — for  this 
purpose,  how  diligently  and  with  our  might  we 
should  do  what  our  hands  find  to  do ! 

And  what  even  is  the  life  of  the  early  patriarchs 
compared  with  the  endless  duration  to  which  we  all 
are  hastening  forward?  What  can  earth  profit  the 
man  who  fails  to  lay  hold  upon  an  eternal  crown? 


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